


Heavy Heart to Carry

by waywardriot



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Enemies to Lovers, I haven't decided yet, M/M, Slow Burn, i mean idk i really can't tell if it's slow burn at this point, possible major character death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-08-17 04:30:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 29,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16509410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waywardriot/pseuds/waywardriot
Summary: When the world is ending, you don't get many options about who to spend your time with. Somehow, Ventus is going to have to learn how to live with Vanitas.Though things are going to get more complicated than they thought, which is saying something when society is collapsing around them.ON HIATUS: CURRENTLY BEING REWRITTEN.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> the beginning of this chapter is super exposition-heavy, forgive me.

The End of the World wasn’t one big, catastrophic event; there was nothing cool, no zombies or alien invasions – rather, it was all the little things mankind had been warned about, growing over time. The economy collapsed. Climate change triggered bigger natural disasters and excessive climates. Antibiotic resistance brought back once-dead diseases. Tensions among world powers triggered war, which in turn brought famine. The final seal on Earth’s death certificate was the solar flares, wiping out the very infrastructure that kept the modern world alive. People never realized how much they relied on it, and people were left not knowing what to do to survive. With that, one of the new diseases was able to run rampant, running people down like wildfire.

Ventus had been safe at first, having grown up in a rather cushy middle-class life. It was months of seeing stocks dropping on the news before he would change the channel, bored of what was going on. It was then that the housing market collapsed, and businesses started to fail. Eventually, the market entirely collapsed, ushering in another Great Depression – despite failsafes, money was lost, and people’s life savings were sucked away. He heard his parents whispering and arguing in the dead of night, more concerned than ever. He was still young, freshly 16, and teenagers have far more important things to care about like friends and parties and that new pimple that popped up overnight.

Next followed the environment. Seasons became more severe, summers quickly climbing into the 120s and the winters dropping into the -40s in many places. It was completely unprecedented, all the scientists scrambling to figure out what caused this to happen so quickly. This intersection with the great surge of homelessness due to the economy left many dead, succumbing to the harsh temperatures. And with these temperatures came terrifying natural disasters – the environment was more unstable, leading to tornadoes in areas that had never seen them before. They had to create a new category for them, F6 and then F7. There were snowstorms blocking up towns with no power for months, leaving people to watch their food supply dwindle before they froze to death. The tectonic plates shifted more and more, bringing earthquakes never before seen on the scale and tsunamis utterly decimating large towns, hundreds of miles out from the coast. Hurricanes completely flattened landscapes, and wildfires ravaged the remains.

Another issue with climate change was the diseases that came back. As permafrost melted, new (yet old) illnesses popped up, and antibiotic resistance brought with it another challenge as already defeated diseases began to mutate and become unbeatable. It started with the vulnerable populations, the young and the disabled and the elderly, but quickly spread to the more vital ones. Hygiene and hospitals had been struggling with people becoming unable to pay for the most basic things, and people began dropping like flies as there was no way to take care of them. Face masks and neurotic application of hand sanitizer became the norm in a failing effort to battle the sicknesses.

All these problems made tensions among the countries worse, and stupid mistakes by stupid politicians led to war. Now that the government had lots of fun new nuclear weapons, cities were wiped off the map with thousands more suffering from the radiation. There was nothing the common man could do, just hope they weren’t chosen by the draft to go die for their country (or rather, their country’s stupidity) as supplies were funneled into the war effort. Famine of course followed, and the homeless and sick were the first to go.

The last nail in the coffin was the solar flares and storms. There was hardly any warning, barely minutes as much of the infrastructure had collapsed and technology was waning already. These storms brought down the crux of modern life, frying technology and making it entirely useless except for spare parts. The power grid fizzled and satellites exploded in orbit. There was no electricity at all – no lights, no air conditioning, no sewage, no internet. The basis of modern society, the things we needed to survive, were all gone. Food and medication perished faster, and this affected people more and more. With society collapsing, there was no chance for many people, and more and more and more died in an unbelievable capacity.

A new super virus developed, decimating the population. It was nothing interesting like you’d read in books about zombie apocalypses; simply, between old diseases coming back and loss of herd immunity from vaccinations, this disease was a fatal combination of others, and there was nothing that could be done with so much infrastructure being wiped out. There was no warning and no help, and many couldn’t fight it. Ventus lost his own parents quickly, succumbing to the disease, leaving him homeless to watch as society collapsed.

With only tens of thousands of people left, Ventus somehow ended up finding _him_ again.

* * *

Ventus was surviving little bits at a time, making his way from one area to the next, ever vigilant. There were always looters and people willing to kill you for the clothes on your back. It was smart to avoid the big cities, since everything was abandoned, and it was easy to get cornered in the confusing layouts. Cities had people wandering around, still looking around for things to loot, not to mention diseased still wandering around, congregating together to wait for their demise. 

At this time, Ventus was navigating his way through a sparse forest, one of the few that hadn’t been completely ravaged, trying to make his way to the next settlement, if there was one before his next destination. At least, maybe he could find some long dead animal’s den here and forage for some food. He was lost in his thoughts and plans until a twig snapped, and he was instantly on guard, reaching for his weapon. Turning around, he was ready to fight – until he saw those eyes and that lopsided grin, ones he could never forget. He lowered his weapon and exhaled through his teeth. “Vanitas. You lived.”

“You know, you shouldn’t let yourself relax just yet,” Vanitas chuckled. “Who’s to say I won’t hurt you?”

“Not like you’ve never done that before,” Ventus said stiffly before turning on his heel and continuing forward.

Too fast to avoid, Vanitas was right behind him, clutching tightly onto his shoulder. “Don’t just walk away from me,” he growled. This was the characteristic Vanitas, always ready to fly off the handle if he wasn’t respected in the exact way he wanted. This had become quite familiar to Ventus over the years, unfortunately.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” Ventus hissed, sending a fist flying, which Vanitas deftly avoided. He instantly knew he shouldn’t have done that by the way Vanitas’s eyes lit up and his grin got bigger. Vanitas always drew out his angry side, made him want to fight back, and that would be the end of him one of these days. Or maybe today.

“That’s it,” Vanitas snapped before Ventus felt an impact, and then black.

* * *

_A long tone. A flat green line. Doctors rushing and yelling and pressing down on his mother and oh, God, they’re going to break her. He went wild, screaming and clawing as people tried to calm him down, take him out. She was all he had left, and nothing in this cold, broken world would be right again without her. He remembers how white her face was and how cold everything was and he kept reaching and reaching and reaching for-_

* * *

Wakefulness. The first thing that came to his mind was holy shit, did his jaw hurt. Next was that everything was bumping up and down, and when he turned his head, there was a backpack. He started flailing as soon as he realized, before he was unceremoniously tossed on the ground.

“What the fuck are you doing?! You just flung me over your shoulder and kept going!” Ventus yelled. He couldn’t believe Vanitas’s gall, but he honestly couldn’t be that surprised. Vanitas was prone to doing whatever he wanted without thinking through what other people wanted.

“What?” Vanitas shrugged. “You dropped from one little punch, and you would get looted and murdered if I just left you on the ground. I wasn’t _trying_ to kill you. Just keep you from getting too hysterical.”

Ventus got up and brushed himself off. “Sorry that not everyone picks fights every fucking day. Well, thanks for attempting to be my knight in shining armor, I guess, but I’m leaving now.”

Vanitas scoffed. “No. Night will be here before we know it, and _we_ are going to go find some shelter and food. It’s easier when there’s two.” In response to this, Ventus sighed and dragged his hand down his face. He knew Vanitas was right, he was always _sooo_ fucking clever, and it looks like he was going to have to spend at least one night with this prick. He figured he could at least try to wake up early and bail before he was forced to spend any longer in his presence.

“Fucking… whatever,” Ventus sighed, hiking up his backpack before walking further into the woods.

“You know, you used to be too broken to talk back,” Vanitas remarked, following closely behind with his hands in his pockets.

Ventus’s hackles were going up. Why did it always seem like Vanitas was trying to pick a fight? He nervously fiddled with the straps of his backpack and replied, “Broken won’t survive here.”

There was a pause, and in an uncharacteristically somber voice, Vanitas simply said, “I know,” and carried on.

* * *

Once deeper in the woods, Vanitas made quick work of making some rudimentary animal traps, which Ventus was totally clueless to how they worked. He had survived thus far on rations he already had along with foraging for plants rather than killing things. 

“We can check these before we leave in the morning,” Vanitas said gruffly. Ventus didn’t miss how he said ‘we’. Why was there a ‘we’ now?

Rather than finding a den (because that plan was suddenly compromised by a certain asshole showing up), Ventus and Vanitas conveniently stumbled upon what looked like a hole a human had dug before. It had a narrow entrance, but was obviously made with human hands, sloping down into the ground.

“I guess this is as good as it gets,” Ventus sighed, taking note of how quickly the sun was dropping below the horizon. He prepared to crawl in, before Vanitas stopped him.

“I’ll go first. Need to make sure there isn’t anyone or anything in there,” he said, unholstering a gun that holy shit, Ventus had not seen yet. He ignored Vanitas’s ass wriggling in and waited at the entrance until the all clear was called before entering. It wasn’t a big space, round and cramped and pitch black, but luckily Vanitas had a lantern – solar powered, he assured Ventus, so he wasn’t wasting supplies.

They both had sleeping bags, luckily, and set them on the floor, preparing to sleep; Ventus made sure to put his as far from Vanitas as possible, which wasn’t very far in the cramped space, but it would have to do. Vanitas instantly laid down and seemed ready to sleep, while Ventus sat up against the wall, messing with his fingernails. They had splintered and grown ragged between lack of nutrition and Ventus worrying at them constantly.

Vanitas sighed and turned over to face Ventus, looking slightly annoyed. “You can lay down. I’m not going to fucking attack you here.” He was fucking exhausted of being treated like a monster at every turn – even if he was once one.

“There’s no guarantee of that,” Ventus shrugged. “It’s not like you ever did anything to make me trust you before.”

“Christ. Yeah, I was a fucking bully, but I wasn’t trying to _kill_ you. Why the hell are you so on edge?” Vanitas replied. Really, he knows he was a douche, but that’s kind of how high schoolers are. That felt like centuries ago to him, everything changing so much since then. He might as well exist in an entirely different world now.

“I don’t know about you, but I haven’t exactly had an easy time out here,” Ventus sighed. 

“None of us have. We all get betrayed, we all get fucked over,” Vanitas replied. He had switched quickly from hostility to some kind of resignation, it seemed. Exhaustion was taking over, so there really was no room for intense emotions in this kind of situation.

“Betrayed…?” Ventus probed, although he wasn’t sure why he was engaging in conversation right then – all he wanted to do was sleep. Vanitas sat up and lifted up his shirt, exposing what must have been quite a nasty stab wound directly below his ribs on his right side. It had healed, but it still looked slightly inflamed and tender. Ventus gasped, really not expecting something that drastic. He knew bad shit happened in these times, but he had managed to avoid the worst of it. “Did you have to deal with that yourself?”

“Yeah. Giving yourself stitches is quite a nasty task, but it was that or probably die,” Vanitas simply shrugged. Ventus had no idea how he was always so nonchalant about these kinds of things; sure, it was dangerous in these times, but Ventus had never come that close to death.

“Oh. Well… You’re really s-strong,” Ventus stuttered; he had become flustered by this train of thought, by this vulnerability that Vanitas was showing him for some completely inexplicable reason. Shaking his head to clear it and finally laying down, he said “I guess we better get to sleep. G-goodnight.”

“Yeah. Goodnight,” Vanitas replied before burying his head in his sleeping bag.

* * *

In the night, Ventus could have sworn he woke up to the sound of panting and soft whimpers, but all he did was curl into himself tighter and try to lose himself to sleep again.

* * *

When morning came, Ventus bolted upright, only to find Vanitas already up, leaning against the wall and mindlessly scraping bark off a stick with his pocket knife. Ventus sighed and scrubbed at his face, his clever plan to leave before Vanitas awoke having been ruined.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Vanitas said, laughing at Ventus’s bedhead (his hair was already naturally extremely weird but somehow always became worse at night), who only glared at him.

“Um. So. I guess I should get going…” Ventus said, trailing off. He hoped he wouldn’t make Vanitas angry because he really was not up to something like that first thing in the morning.

“Where are you going?” Vanitas casually asked, not taking his eyes off his task.

Ventus grumbled, not really wanting to divulge that information, but he figured he had to. “Radiant Garden.”

“Nearest sanctuary city. Me too.”

Ventus sighed and relented, running his hand through his hair. “I guess we might as well go together, since we’d be walking in the same direction anyways.” It would be painfully awkward to go separately to the same place, as they’d no doubt run into each other over and over again.

Vanitas smirked, as though pleased by making Ventus have to say this. He always took satisfaction by being the one in control. “I thought so. Plus, it’s safer that way.” Ventus simply nodded in response, cheeks flushed in irritation, before working on bundling his stuff up. There was no point in wasting daylight, so they may as well get traveling.

* * *

Before continuing off for good, Vanitas checked the traps. He carefully dismantled all of them, taking the two unsuspecting rabbits who had been looped in – it was lucky that there was still wildlife left. Vanitas motioned for Ventus to turn around, who always had somewhat of a weak stomach, while he made quick work of slitting their throats. Slinging them over his shoulder, he smiled weakly. “Alright, let’s go.”

They soon continued forward, an entirely unexpected and unanticipated duo against an unknown landscape.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> our lovely boys meet some new friends. emotions are had. vanitas and ventus are fools.
> 
> i'm not quite sure how to characterize the destiny trio just yet, but hopefully i can get there soon! bear with me for now.

Vanitas and Ventus had spent hours walking, ignoring the beating of the hot (thanks, global warming!) sun on their faces. Traveling like this was always rigorous, but it wasn’t like there were any other options left. They had occasional breaks to rest, but they were mostly intent on their destination to avoid spending any more time outside than completely necessary.

After some time, Ventus noticed a dot in the distance that then began growing bigger. He rubbed his eyes to make sure his vision wasn’t just wavering with the waves of heat distorting the horizon, but the dots remained. He elbowed Vanitas and asked, “Am I hallucinating, or are those people?”

“Yeah. Be prepared,” Vanitas replied tersely, putting his hand on the gun at his hip. Ventus himself had a simple baseball bat, which wasn’t much, but it had worked for him thus far. Vanitas mocked him mercilessly for the way he held it backhand, but he was still efficient, so it didn’t really matter. He hadn’t used it much, but he had managed to hold his own in fights with it before.

The approaching group seemed a lot less intimidating when they saw how much the person in the middle was bouncing and swinging his arms as he walked. There was a red-headed girl, the bouncing boy with gravity-defying brown hair, and a man with silver hair who was dragging a pipe in the dust as he walked. The brunette’s eyes brightened when he saw them, and he bounced up towards them.

“Hi! I’m Sora! We’re lost,” he said, abnormally cheerful for the situation they were in. The other boy next to him hissed his name, seemingly protective, but Sora paid him no mind.

Ventus grinned at him because it was nice to see someone who wasn’t so solemn after traveling hours with Vanitas; they had had little conversation, and there was still a very tense air between them as neither of them were ready to let their guard down completely. “I’m Ventus, but you can call me Ven, and this is Vanitas,” he said, waving at Vanitas, who simply grunted in response. “Where are you guys headed?”

“Radiant Garden, but I think we got turned around somewhere,” Sora grinned, putting his hands behind his head somewhat bashfully. “Oh, by the way, this is Kairi,” he said, motioning to the girl who gave a small wave, “and this is Riku,” who simply quirked an eyebrow in response.

Ventus started to speak, but Vanitas interrupted him, seemingly exasperated. “That’s where we’re going. It’s maybe less than a couple days east of here. You can follow the sun.”

Kairi sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Sora, that’s what we _told_ you. You have absolutely no sense of direction and no common sense.” Sora simply laughed in response, apparently having no defense for himself.

“Well… Do you wanna travel together so that you don’t get lost again?” Ventus asked before elbowing Vanitas. “Would that be fine?” Vanitas had spent this time silently appraising Riku, who was rhythmically thumping his pipe in the dust, as they both were evidently battling to see who was cooler. He simply lifted a fist, and Riku bumped it in return. “Okay, I guess that’s a yes,” Ventus laughed.

“Yeah! That sounds great!” Sora said, clapping his hands together. Ventus was happy that he would have other people here to stifle the tension between him and Vanitas, and it was safer to travel in groups. It may have been somewhat foolish, but he felt like he could trust Sora implicitly, so hopefully things would take a turn for the better this way.

* * *

After hours of traveling with short breaks interspersed, they decided to settle down for the night. Unfortunately, there was no real shelter where they stopped, so they would have to be out in the open. It was necessary that someone watched over them at all times, so Ventus volunteered for first shift easily, with Vanitas going after him and then Sora. Ventus was tired like the rest of them, but it felt like his mind was going a million miles an hour, so there was no way he was going to fall asleep anytime soon.

They had been chatting amicably, waiting for sleep. Riku and Sora were sitting snuggled up together, Riku’s arm around Sora’s waist to pull him close. It was nice to see such a normal display of affection in a situation like this – it served as a reminder that things could still be okay, that people were still kind and willing to comfort others.

“If you don’t mind me asking… Why are you headed to Radiant Garden?” Ventus asked. He had a feeling there was something underlying it other than the need for a safe place to stay.

“Well…” Sora started, and Kairi took his hand in both of hers, rubbing it gently. “I got separated from my boyfriend, Roxas, and we’ve been looking for him ever since.”

“Wait, I thought you were dating Riku?” Vanitas butted in. He had been characteristically silent up to this point, as he would always rather observe. Ventus shot a glare at him, as that seemed rather insensitive to ask at that time, but Vanitas just rolled his eyes.

Riku planted a kiss on Sora’s temple. “He is, and he’s dating Roxas. Roxas and I don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, but we at least agree that we love Sora.” Sora giggled in response, giving his boyfriend a sappy smile.

“Yeah. The four of us,” Sora began, tilting his head towards Riku and Kairi, “lived near the coast. Not super close, so we normally never got affected too badly by tropical weather… But with all the climate change mess, one of the monster tsunamis came up right on us. It completely wiped out the cities right on the coast, and it had kept quite a bit of power when it got to us. Kairi lived on higher ground, and Riku was at work near there that day, thankfully, so they were safe.

“There wasn’t any warning since all of the tsunami systems are down. Just roaring all of a sudden, and everything collapsed and was… swept away. Roxas and I were outside and… we tried to keep holding onto each other, but the current was too strong… There was no sign of him at any of the surrounding areas set up for evacuees afterwards.” Sora’s voice cracked, and tears began to slide down his cheeks. Kairi slid an arm around his shoulder, and Riku clenched on tighter.

“We don’t know if he’s…” Riku continued, trailing off; he shrugged his shoulders, obviously not wanting to say the word so he wouldn’t upset Sora. “But all we can do is hope. We’ve checked every settlement we’ve come upon, but we’re hoping he’d head to the next big city, if anything.”

Ventus had drawn his knees up to his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs tightly. His eyes were brimming with big unshed tears, as he was always an empathetic crier. “I’m so sorry… I…”

“It’s okay,” Sora whispered, giving a weak smile. “I’m just really grateful to have Riku and Kairi here to help me. I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done without them.”

“All I had was my dad, and during the tsunami, he… passed on,” Kairi said, clearing her throat. “And Riku’s parents were always garbage, so he bailed a long time ago.” Riku cracked a smile at that.

“I feel that,” Vanitas chuckled. “Better to be dealing with this shit than be trapped, y’know?” Riku let out a small laugh and nodded his assent; somehow, he was remaining stoic throughout all the emotions being shed here. Ventus guessed that he served as their rock, Sora’s especially.

Ventus was slightly shocked by this – he didn’t know Vanitas had a rough home life, though it wasn’t like they had ever actually had conversations. He worried at the chapped skin on his lip, wondering if there really was something deeper to Vanitas that he never thought about.

“Being sad tires me out. We should get to sleep,” Kairi yawned. Everyone else agreed and began to lay down, although Ventus stayed sitting up, preparing to keep watch. Vanitas had asked him if he needed someone else to stay up, but he adamantly rejected it, not quite wanting to deal with being alone with Vanitas in the dark for several hours. It would be good to have the time alone to contemplate, too, and sort out all the thoughts in his head.

* * *

A few hours later, Ventus shook Vanitas awake for the next watch, looking forward to sleeping himself, as exhaustion had finally caught up to his mind. Vanitas made a startled noise like ‘mnuh,’ but came to consciousness quickly.

Rubbing his eyes, Vanitas whispered to Ventus, “Are you okay?” Ventus mentally cursed himself for letting Vanitas see the vulnerable look on his face, but he just chalked it up to how tired he was.

“Yeah. Just sad. There’s been so much loss for everyone,” Ventus murmured, not daring to make eye contact with Vanitas; the atmosphere felt just a little too unstable for something like that.

“There is. But there are other things to find,” Vanitas replied. Ventus hummed a response and laid down. Vanitas was sitting up oddly close to him, but he couldn’t say he minded at that very moment – the warmth and human contact were appreciated, just this once. He thought at one point that he may have felt a hand run through his hair, but he was too tired to open his eyes and find out, drifting off into a worried sleep.

* * *

As they slowly awoke the next day, they prepared for another day of traveling. Hopefully they would make it by nighttime so that they wouldn’t have to spend another night outside and vulnerable.

It was evident that almost everyone in their group was not a morning person. Ventus was sluggish, Riku looked slightly shell-shocked, Kairi was very grumpy (the kind of person who needs caffeine in the mornings), and Vanitas just looked done with the world. Sora was exceptionally cheery that morning, giving his trademark grin with his hands behind his head.

“What has you so excited, Sor? You really wanna walk for hours that badly?” Riku laughed, running a hand through his still messy bedhead, failing to sort it out.

“We may find a lead on Roxas within the day! We have new friends and a goal, so what is there to not be happy about?” Sora practically shouted. Ventus really admired his tenacity – he was somehow able to ignore all the world’s problems and be happy as things were crumbling around them all. Ventus probably hadn’t felt that happy in a long, long time, but Sora’s mood was infectious in a way.

“Alright, children,” Kairi laughed, clapping her hands together, “let’s get going. It’s a long journey still!” She seemed quite used to mothering the other two.

Vanitas was silent this morning, seemingly lost in thought. Ventus couldn’t blame him, as this was a lot to deal with so early in the morning, and Vanitas was definitely not an extrovert or a morning person. Ventus elbowed his side and asked, “Are you ready to go?” 

Vanitas sighed through his nose. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Are you… okay? What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing. Bad dreams. It happens,” Vanitas muttered, and Ventus got the hint to leave it alone; Vanitas trailed slightly behind, and Ventus joined the others to start their journey.

* * *

Travels that day were pretty much entirely uneventful. Once they got to the areas immediately surrounding the city, they found they were abandoned, decrepit suburbs, and they saw no one else around. Vanitas wanted to go look through houses for items that were left behind, but Kairi pulled him away by his sleeve, chastising him, as it was apparent she had already taken the mother role for him as well.

Sora, Ventus, and Kairi spent much of the time chatting. Sora was able to draw conversation out of anyone as he spilled his life story, waving his hands around emphatically the entire time. Ventus laughed more than he had in a while, grateful for the new goofy friend he’d made. As he got to know Kairi better, he found out that she was very sweet, yet obstinate, willing to do anything for her friends. He hadn’t managed to get much out of Riku yet, who only stuck small quips in the conversation occasionally, but he still was able to feel comfortable around him.

Eventually, Kairi decided to try to pull Vanitas out of his shell. She lingered back to walk besides him, hands laced together behind her innocently. “So, how did you and Ventus meet?” she probed.

“We lived in the same town in high school,” Vanitas replied, somewhat strained. The past was quite a sore subject for him, so it was surprising that he was talking to Kairi about it at all.

“Oh! Were you good friends then? What got you stuck together here?” she said, eyes bright.

Ventus barked out a sudden laugh. “No, no way. Some weird fate had us find each other a few days ago, I guess. Funny how it works out.” Vanitas rolled his eyes in response.

“You guys don’t work out together well, I guess,” Kairi hummed. “You’re still going to have to learn. Sora won’t let anyone not be friends around him, anyways!” Sora shot her a thumbs up in response, and Riku scoffed.

“I’m a master at it!” Sora proclaimed proudly, “and my latest endeavor is getting Riku and Roxas to get along. I swear I’ll get there one day if it’s the last thing I do. And you can all be friends with Roxas too!” Riku rolled his eyes and bumped Sora with his hip. It was obvious that he was absolutely enamored with his boyfriend and his antics, despite his efforts to seem annoyed.

“Speaking of Roxas… Look there, in the distance. Those buildings are Radiant Garden. If we keep good time, we can make it within the next couple of hours,” Vanitas said, pointing east. Sora stuck his hands in the air and cheered. He started running forwards, but Riku grabbed him by the wrist to keep him with them. Sora was like a child that had to be contained sometimes, but he was at least helping to keep them in good spirits.

* * *

They managed to make it to the entrance before the sun had set which was good, considering how Sora had been complaining about dinner. The city would normally be wide open and welcoming, but a wall had been erected around it with barbed wire at the top, creating quite an imposing picture.

“Woah… I wonder what that’s for,” Ventus breathed out.

“Probably to keep sick people out. I’ve heard here they have a protocol to get in – a medical test so that they know you’re not ill and going to bring the virus in. This keeps it a safe haven,” Vanitas explained. Somehow, he always had the answers, which endlessly annoyed Ventus.

They found their way to the opening to the city, an enclosed white pavilion. A woman was waiting out front, and she spread her arms upon seeing them. “Welcome to Radiant Garden! Enjoy your stay, and keep safe!”

The others grinned at each other, but Ventus felt a shiver run down his spine. For some reason, he had the awful feeling that something was going to go wrong very soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took so long to get out! i was having quite a bit of trouble and writer's block with this. 
> 
> i'm not sure how i'm doing with characterizing the destiny trio, especially kairi. nomura please give her better development. also, i've discovered that slow burn is hard to do because i really just want these idiots to kiss, so we'll see how slow the burn goes. 
> 
> if any of the science stuff isn't true, that's because i'm not a scientist. it's MY fantasy world and I make the science now

The lady, introducing herself as Aerith, took their information down onto intake sheets and led the five of them to a corner of the tent where there appeared to be medical supplies. It was rather basic, but there were two machines that were obviously high tech. “We’re very lucky that we managed to get ahold of these in order to test for the virus,” Aerith said happily, motioning to the machines. “It’s saved us a lot of trouble.”

It was a simple procedure, just a cheek swab that was inserted into the machine, and they were left to wait for 15 minutes for processing. Sora, Riku, and Kairi were able to chat happily, but Ventus still had an underlying layer of anxiety. Vanitas noticed and seemed to ask a question with his eyes, but Ventus simply shook his head.

After the time had passed, Aerith came over to tell them the results. “So, all of you are clean,”

“Except for Ventus,” she said, wringing her hands.

Ventus felt his jaw drop and the blood drain out of his face. He was speechless, but thankfully Kairi took the lead. “What? No. That’s not possible. Look at him, he’s not sick at all!”

Aerith sighed and replied, “Well, the test is about 98% positive. There’s a more complicated blood test, but that will take until tomorrow to process. I can get that going but for the time being, he won’t be able to enter the city.”

Sora was opening his mouth to protest, but Ventus stopped him. “Guys, it’s… it’s okay. I’ll do the blood test and go spend the night outside and you can go in and look for Roxas, yeah?” he said, forcing himself to smile so the others wouldn’t worry. He obviously didn’t seem sick, but what if he was, somehow?

“Ven, no, we don’t want to leave you alone!” Sora whined. “We can just wait until tomorrow.”

“I’ll stay with him. You three go on ahead and do what you need to,” Vanitas offered, surprising Ventus. He wasn’t sure if Vanitas would actually want to spend time with him, given that Ventus would just be moping from here.

“It’ll be okay. Vanitas will stay with me, and we’ll meet you out at the entrance to the city at noon, okay? Now let’s get this blood test over with.”

Ventus despised needles, but thankfully, it went quickly. Aerith was skilled at what she did, with reassuring hands that didn’t shake. Her warm smiles at Ventus were much appreciated as he breathed deeply, trying to forget what was going on.

Once everything was done and Ventus was bandaged up, they all said goodbye. Sora was already teary-eyed and squeezed Ventus tight, who had to reassure him that yes, they were going to see each other soon and no, he wasn’t going to die of sickness before then. Kairi gave him a quick hug and a peck on the cheek, and Riku clapped him on the shoulder. That out of the way, Ventus and Vanitas waved them off as they watched them exit the tent on the side of the town.

“I hope they find him,” Ventus whispered. “Even if they don’t come back for us.”

* * *

Ventus and Vanitas trudged on for a little while, wanting to find shade under a copse of trees instead of being out in the open. Ventus tried to stay strong but as he sat down, the tears started dripping down his face. He desperately tried to stifle them, rubbing his hands on his eyes and sniffling pathetically.

Vanitas came and sat down next to him, very hesitant; he lifted up a hand as if to put it on Ventus’s back before pausing and setting it back down. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Do I look like I’m okay?” Ventus replied, voice cracking. “I’m scared. What if the symptoms haven’t come yet? What if I end up like my parents, laying in a bed wasting away? What if I’m just a dead man walking?”

Vanitas sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Shit, I’m not good at comforting. I wish I could tell you that everything’s going to be okay, but we can’t know that. Just… it does no good to sit here and cry like a baby because that’s not gonna change the outcome.”

“You could say it a little more nicely, you know,” Ventus sniffled.

“I’ve never been nice. I don’t know how to do nice, or if I even can be,” Vanitas shrugged.

“Everyone can be nice. We all have our good traits, our light. I’m sure you can be, even if you’re kind of an ass sometimes.”

“Oh, thanks,” Vanitas said sarcastically. 

Ventus tapped a finger on his cheek. “It’s the truth! You were a douche in high school. But I think you’ve changed.”

“I hope so. No one wants to be like they were in the past. If I got stuck in my middle school goth phase forever, I think I’d die,” Vanitas laughed. 

“A goth phase? Really?” Ventus said, chuckling lightly, wiping the last of his tears away. Vanitas simply rolled his eyes and waved a hand at him. 

Turning somber again, Ventus continued from before. “I don’t know how I’m gonna make it until tomorrow without freaking out. Noon seems like a lifetime away…” Ventus murmured, picking at his fingernails again. It was an unfortunate nervous tick for him.

Vanitas grabbed his hands. “Stop doing that, you’re going to make them bleed, you know. We can go to sleep now and just look for food or something tomorrow. We can fill the time.” Ventus stared at Vanitas’s hands and nodded quickly, a blush rising on his cheeks. Vanitas seemed to only just then realize that he was still holding them; he dropped them like they were burning him before clearing his throat and moving to unroll his sleeping bag.

After a few minutes of quiet rustling as they settled down, Ventus murmured “Thanks.”

“...Yeah. You too.”

And for once, Ventus felt safer being around Vanitas.

* * *

Thankfully, morning came quickly, and Ventus slept okay since he had cried himself out. He woke up with his face feeling slightly sticky, curled up in a tight ball. Surprisingly, Vanitas was already awake, laying on his back and staring at the sky as he tumbled a small rock in his hands. 

“Hi,” Ventus said simply, stretching and running his hands through his hair. 

Vanitas looked over softly and asked, “Are you feeling better?”

Ventus felt his cheeks starting to burn under this unfamiliar gaze – Vanitas didn’t seem like he could ever be soft. “Yeah. A lot better. Should we get up and go explore?”

“Yeah, there’s a more wooded part near here. I already set some traps out there earlier this morning, but we can go look for plants or some shit,” Vanitas said, sitting up and stretching his legs out.

Ventus smiled, feeling better about having something to do. Looking at the sun, they had some time to kill until they were to meet with the others, and he was sure exploring would eat into that time. “Okay! I’m good with plants. I can’t stand killing things, so that’s mostly what I’ve lived off of.”

Vanitas hummed in response. “Just as I’d expect.” Ventus stuck his tongue out, and Vanitas chuckled.

The two set off and made it to the woods shortly, Ventus enjoying the shade that was left. He busied himself scrounging around for roots and berries while Vanitas leaned up against a tree, watching Ventus and whistling.

After some time, Ventus started conversation, genuinely interested about something related to Vanitas for once. “How did you learn to start trapping? You seem confident with it.”

“I liked to be out of the house as much as possible as a kid. I loved to be outside and in the dirt, and my house bordered right on the woods. It was natural for me to go out and explore on my own, and I thought it would be fun to learn how to live for myself like that. It took lots of trial and error and library books, but it’s served as a useful skill. Not that I expected it to end up this way,” he laughed. “What about you, with all the foraging and shit?”

“I was a Boy Scout,” Ventus shrugged.

Vanitas gave a big laugh at that. “Completely and utterly predictable.”

“Hey! What does that mean?” Ventus pouted.

“You’re kinda a goody two-shoes. Definitely have the whole Boy Scout vibe. Even more so when we were in school… Teacher’s pet.”

Ventus crossed his arms and scrunched up his nose. “Was not!”

“Were too. Mister ‘I’m going to fail this test and then makes a 95’. Mister ‘I talk to the teacher after school for literally no reason’.”

“Hey! I have test anxiety, dick! And it’s not my fault we had nice teachers! Besides, I know _you_ are actually smart and keep your grades low so you don’t seem like a nerd,” Ventus replied, sticking his tongue out. He knew Vanitas was particularly good in science, having seen him spend time after school in the chemistry lab, flawlessly doing extra assignments when he thought nobody was around.

It was Vanitas’s turn to pout, and he scuffed his shoe in the dirt. “Touché. But you better _not_ tell anyone, or I’ll come for you.”

“Sure you will,” Ventus grinned, putting his hands behind his head. It felt actually good to joke around with Vanitas like this. If Vanitas threatened him like that in school, he would’ve been terrified, but he knew now that it wasn’t serious. He had been able to let some of his anxiety over Vanitas ebb away after spending all this time traveling with him.

Vanitas made an exasperated face at him. “Come on, it’s getting towards noon anyways. Let’s head back towards the city.” Ventus fell in step beside him, growing a little anxious again; he’d forgotten what they were there for in that time, though it was good to keep him from panicking for at least a bit. He just had to keep reassuring himself that everything would be okay. Hopefully.

* * *

The sun reaching its peak overhead, Ventus and Vanitas made their way back to the tent at the entrance of Radiant Garden. Sora was already standing there, waving violently and bouncing on the balls of his feet once he saw them.

“Hi! Are you guys okay?” he practically shouted.

“Of course, chill out, Sora,” Vanitas said, shouldering Sora. Ventus simply smiled, happy to see Vanitas actually getting along with Sora. Vanitas was getting a lot better with interacting with people; he had always been a loner before, so it was nice, albeit weird, to see him being normal.

Ventus took a shaky breath. “Well, let’s get in there and see what the results are.”

“Breathe! It’s gonna be fine,” Sora said, patting Ventus on the back. “Riku and Kairi should be here soon, too. They’re getting supplies.”

They quickly filed in and sat down to wait for Aerith, who was missing at the moment. Ventus was twisting his fingers together over and over, trying to resist the urge to bite at his nails. Last thing he needed was to deal with body fluids if he _was_ sick and _was_ infectious.

Within a few minutes, Aerith entered and took a seat in front of them, her face particularly serious, and Ventus’s heart stopped upon seeing her so formal. She cleared her throat and began. 

“So… the test was positive once again. The blood test is close to 99.9% effective, so with the other test being positive, it’s safe to assume that you have the virus.

“However, looking at the samples, it seems the virus is dormant. We’ve only seen it one other time in Radiant Garden, but we’re not equipped to deal with that. There is a government-associated facility located about a week from here, unfortunately, but they’re your best bet. If you go, this dormant virus could potentially help aid with finding a vaccine.”

“That was Roxas!” Sora blurted out, his legs shaking up and down. “He was here. W-we talked to the administration here and they have records of everyone who has entered or tried to enter. That’s where they told him to go, so he might be there.”

Ventus covered his face, overwhelmed and not wanting to cry again. “So I’m not going to die?” he murmured, muffled by his hands. Sora put a gentle hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

“You shouldn’t, looking at the virus. It probably won’t come out of dormancy,” Aerith explained. “Still, you may be infectious, so it’s important to be careful. Be very mindful of body fluids. No open wounds, don’t share drinks or food, cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing.”

Suddenly, Riku and Kairi burst in, looking slightly out of breath. “What’s the verdict?” Riku asked, taking a seat next to Sora.

“Dormant, like Roxas. That’s a crazy coincidence!” Sora laughed.

“So we can keep traveling together,” Kairi smiled warmly at Ventus and Vanitas. Ventus appreciated the kindness that came off her at all times, even if she was mischievous sometimes. “Aerith, can you draw us a map?”

Aerith quickly got out a piece of paper and a pen. “It’s about a week northwest by foot.” She marked where it was on the paper and drew the location of a few settlements in between. “This is the best I can do for directions, but you can probably ask for help at any of the settlements along the way. Just ask for Oblivion City, many will know it.”

Vanitas took the map, folding it up and putting it into his pocket. “It seems like I have the best sense of direction, so I’ll take this,” he said dryly, looking at Sora, who gave him a cheesy grin.

They shouldered their bags, Riku with an extra duffel bag, presumably full of stuff to tide them over on their long journey. 

“I can’t believe this is really it. We have a solid lead for Roxas,” Sora breathed out, starting to look a bit teary-eyed.

“It’s okay. We’ll find him soon, I’m sure of it. I can feel it,” Ventus reassured. He wasn’t lying then; he really did have a gut feeling that something was going to happen. Not a bad gut feeling like before, thankfully.

They all exited the tent, their feet itching to get on a new journey – a journey that would hopefully take them towards hope.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ventus is having gay panic.
> 
> this is a bit of an oddly structured chapter. i wanted a kind of montage-like thing for the traveling, so that's why the scenes are disconnected. i'm not sure if it works well, but it'll be back to normal next chapter if it doesn't!

They were quite a silly crew going forward together. Traveling with Sora was, quite frankly, often like traveling with a child. He was bouncing and singing and going back and forth and Ventus had heard ‘are we there yet?’ far too many times. Riku managed to keep him in line often by holding his hand, but Riku just liked to hang back and get lost in thought sometimes, hands in his pockets as he scuffed the ground with his shoes. Kairi would even get caught up in the silliness sometimes, goofing off with Sora until Riku told them off. Vanitas had formed a silent bond with Riku, often exchanging exasperated glances with each other as they hung back. 

Despite the shenanigans, Ventus was grateful to have the others with him. He’d done quite a bit of traveling on his own before he’d found Vanitas, and it got scary at times. 

Ventus had suffered from chronic anxiety ever since he started high school, and the events he’d experienced led to nightmares and likely PTSD. Being stuck alone for long stretches of time when he was already so often on guard was absolutely exhausting, both physically and mentally. He was pretty much on the verge of tears constantly for the past god-knows-how-long, until he’d met the others.

Despite his initial trepidation with Vanitas, even having some company was better, and Sora, Riku, and Kairi helped even more. Ventus did have trouble opening up sometimes—thanks to anxiety—but he felt like he was growing closer to Sora. He was relentlessly cheerful and loyal to his friends, and Ventus felt like he could trust him. Kairi was also very sweet, trying to pry things out of Ventus and shooting him sweet smiles. Riku really intimidated Ventus, but he still quite liked him and hoped they could become real friends one day.

There had been many nights huddled together around a fire, talking and discussing all kinds of things. They didn’t have to dwell on their situation right now, they just simply talked about… everything. Their lives before, what things they liked to do, the people they knew, what their dreams were. Ventus felt like he could open up in a way he never had before, and it was relieving—therapeutic in a time where there was no therapy anymore.

* * *

One day, trekking through a forest, they discovered a small creek with an obviously manmade pool. It was very small, dug there with some stones blocking it off from the rest of creek. Sora’s eyes immediately lit up, and he cheered, “I’m going swimming!” and promptly started removing his clothes with reckless abandon.

“Jesus, Sora, there’s a _girl_ here,” Vanitas sighed, slapping a hand to his forehead.

“What? I’m not getting all the way naked! Kairi’s known me since we were super small, and she doesn’t like boys, anyway,” Sora whined. Kairi gave a simple shrug when the others looked to her, and Sora continued taking off his pants and shirt, leaving his boxers.

“Fuck it,” Riku announced, preparing to strip as well, and Vanitas laughed and joined in.

Ventus had to admit this sounded appealing, given how hot it was, but he was still extremely embarrassed and especially not willing to strip in front of Vanitas, out of everyone. He settled for hiking up his shorts and sitting at the edge of the pool, soaking up to his knees, and Kairi joined him there. 

Sora immediately started pouting. “Ven, come on, join us!”

“N-no, I’m good,” he stuttered, shaking his head and blushing.

Unfortunately, Vanitas had other plans, grabbing him by the ankles and pulling him in with a shout. Ventus popped out of the water, soaking wet and incredibly grumpy.

“Vanitas, are you serious? My clothes are all wet now!” Ventus whined, holding his arms out and dripping.

Vanitas simply threw his head back and cackled. “Get over it, you big baby. They’ll dry quickly in the sun.”

Ventus growled and jumped at Vanitas, getting him into a headlock and dragging him underwater. Vanitas was thrashing and when he reemerged from the water, he shot Ventus a grumpy look, water streaming down his face and body and—oh, no. All of a sudden, Ventus couldn’t stop admiring him. Vanitas was fit and slightly tanned, and Ventus could never deny that his face was attractive. Not that he’d thought too hard about it, of course.

Ventus turned away, clearing his throat and trying to keep from blushing. “We’re even now.”

Vanitas shook his hair out like a wet dog and agreed, “Fine. Truce.”

When Ventus looked at the others, he was incredibly embarrassed to see the smug look in Riku’s eyes. He definitely knew Ventus had been checking Vanitas out. Kairi wiggled an eyebrow when she made eye contact with Ventus, and he promptly dunked himself underwater again. He was _not_ going to deal with this now. He had enough nonsense in his life. Gay thoughts be damned.

* * *

Ventus and Sora woke up one morning to the sounds of yelling and impacts, and they scrambled up immediately, ready to fight. Instead of seeing strangers, it was… Vanitas and Kairi?

“Shit!” Ventus cursed, nearly falling in his effort to run over there, as Sora stood with his mouth hanging open. 

“What the fuck are you doing?! Stop it!” Ventus yelled at them, and Vanitas was shocked a little; he whipped around and jumped back, about to say something, when Kairi caught him by surprise with a surprisingly strong roundhouse kick to the back. Vanitas let out a curse as he fell facedown to the ground, and Kairi let out a cheer.

Ventus was confused. It had _looked_ serious, but… “What in the world is going on?”

“We’re sparring!” Kairi replied brightly.

“She won,” came from Vanitas on the ground, slightly muffled by the grass. Kairi laughed and crouched down to ruffle his hair, and he swatted at her hand.

Okay, now Ventus was really fucking confused. This was just a really, _really_ weird side of Vanitas—who would have thought that he would just let someone kick his ass like that and admit they won so easily? He leaned down and offered a hand to Vanitas, who took it and got up, brushing himself off.

“Kairi asked me to spar with her because she doesn’t want to get out of shape, being in this situation and all. She’s a lot stronger than she looks,” Vanitas continued, examining his arms for bruises.

Riku had showed up behind them at some point, presumably woken up by all the shouting Ventus had done. “Yeah, she’s a tough cookie. She did all kinds of sports at school, so she’s strong everywhere.” Kairi flexed in response, and Sora laughed.

Vanitas nodded sagely, and Ventus gave an exasperated sigh. “You scared the shit out of me. I thought Vanitas had gotten pissed off and…” he said, trailing off when he saw the weird look in Vanitas’s eyes.

Kairi shook her head emphatically and threw her arm around Vanitas’s shoulders. “No, he’s sweet! Prickly, but sweet.”

“Me? Sweet? How dare you,” Vanitas scoffed with mock irritation, and Kairi giggled. 

Watching this scene, Ventus couldn’t stop thinking about how endearing Vanitas was—shit, no he shouldn’t be thinking that. But it was so nice to see Vanitas forming a bond with Kairi. He was really making a lot of progress with all of them, and it made Ventus happy.

* * *

Ventus and Vanitas found themselves alone together again that night, Ventus unable to sleep as Vanitas kept watch. The others were sleeping peacefully—Sora making his typical little kitten snores—and Ventus laid watching the sky.

“Why don’t you trust me?” Vanitas said softly, tracing a finger in the dust.

“Wh-what do you mean?” Ventus stuttered. He felt an emotional conversation coming on, and he was not equipped for that.

“Earlier when Kairi and I were sparring,” Vanitas sighed, “you said that you were worried I’d gotten mad. Like you thought I was going to hurt her on purpose.”

Ventus exhaled deeply, ruffling his bangs. “I… You used to be… not great to me, or other people.”

“I’ve changed,” Vanitas said, scowling at the ground.

Ventus felt so guilty now, knowing he’d hurt Vanitas. Vanitas had never been bothered by this kind of stuff before, simply not caring what anyone thought of him. “Yeah. I see that. I just get caught up in the past.”

Vanitas sighed again and pulled his knees up to his chest, staring at the sky like Ventus.

After a few moments of silence, Ventus raised a hand up, pointing towards a constellation. “That’s Orion. See those three stars in a perfect row? That’s his belt, and you can see his sword going down and his raised arm. He was a strong hunter, killed by a scorpion and placed among the heavens. When I was a kid, I wanted to be strong like that.”

“You know a lot about the constellations?” Vanitas questioned.

“Yeah. I got my first telescope when I was 5, a crappy little thing, but I loved it with my whole heart. Space is fascinating, and I’ve wanted to be an astronomer since then, but… you know.”

Vanitas nodded, looking up at Orion. “I like science too. I wanted to go into chemistry, be a scientist one day. Who knows if there will ever be colleges left in our lifetime, though, so it’s a far-off dream.”

“Maybe one day. The world is still spinning, so anything can happen,” Ventus sighed. Vanitas looked over at him, something unreadable in his eyes, and Ventus held his gaze. Something in the air couldn’t be disturbed, and they just stared for many long moments.

“Goodnight, Vanitas.”

“Goodnight… Ven.”

* * *

There were a handful of settlements along the way, but they collectively decided to not stop at most of them, as they looked slightly fishy, and they’d rather not get robbed and/or murdered. However, they ended up practically at the doorstep of one just as night was falling, so they decided they’d enter now and spend the night there, as it didn’t look too suspicious.

There were two girls sitting by a tent, holding hands and talking. Sora approached them first, ever the friendly one.

“Hi! Is it okay if we stay the night here? We’re on our way to Oblivion City, so we’ll be leaving tomorrow,” he smiled.

The blonde girl looked to her companion and nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Of course. We’re sort of just passing through too, although we’ve been here for a few days since Xi injured her ankle.”

“Is she okay?” Kairi cut in, looking concerned.

“Yeah,” the girl smiled, patting the other girl’s knee. “She just sprained it tripping over a tree root. Nothing bad, it’s just made it hard for her to get around, so it’s easier to stay in one place.” The other girl nodded and gave a tentative wave, just a simple lift of her hand.

After that, they all busied themselves with putting out their stuff for the night and chatting to the girls about their destinations; the blonde introduced herself as Naminé, and the other introduced herself as Xion, although she was very quiet, seemingly exhausted. The two of them were displaced from their hometown by some of the climate change ramifications—it had been a place built on agriculture, and with the crops razed by so many disasters, there was nothing left for anyone there. Thus, they were on their way to Radiant Garden, returning the same way Ventus and the others had come.

Sora turned into a whining puppy. “Guys, can we help them? Xion is injured, and it’s safer in a group…”

Kairi let out a sigh and patted Sora’s hand. “We have to find Roxas. We don’t know if we’ll lose track of him on the chance he left Oblivion City if we stall.” Sora knew she was right, but he still pouted and grumbled. Naminé let out a lilting laugh and insisted they would make it okay.

“Be careful near Oblivion City,” Xion finally spoke up, a wrinkle forming between her brows as she laid her head in Naminé’s lap.. “It can be… dangerous there.”

“Isn’t everywhere dangerous? We don’t have a choice,” Riku said, ever somber. “We can’t leave Roxas there alone, just in case.”

“He’s probably scared…” Sora murmured, twisting his hands in his lap.

Naminé was running her hands through Xion’s hair, and she smiled at all of them. “You’ll find him, I’m sure of it.”

Ventus could already tell that Naminé was a sweetheart, and it was rather nice to have someone else there as he drifted off, staring at the stars once again.

* * *

The next morning, they parted from Xion and Naminé and prepared for the last leg of their journey. Sora said goodbye very emphatically, making sure they knew that they were their friends now and they would see them again someday. Naminé patted his hands—she was much like Kairi with how many comforting touches she would give—and waved them off.

Riku was rushing to shoo them forward—especially Sora, as usual—so that they could make it before nightfall. It had been a long and arduous journey with not many long rests, so being in a place with actual accommodations would be a relief.

Sora was once again in one of his overenthusiastic moods, informing the others over and over how excited he was to see Roxas and how they were all going to love him. Riku simply kept rolling his eyes and sighing as he took his boyfriend’s hand and pulled him along whenever he got too rowdy. Kairi was full of smiles too, happy to see her best friend so happy. Ventus couldn’t help smiling too, and Vanitas tried and failed to hide his small, lopsided smiles.

The last leg of the journey wasn’t as arduous as the rest, as the weather was starting to get slightly cooler the further north they headed. It wasn’t a lot, but it was a relief. They had overestimated how long it would take to get there, so they were within sight of the city within the next few hours, much before sunset.

Sora shivered as the city loomed close, his normally unfailing optimism faltering for once. “It’s… gonna be alright, right?”

“Yeah. We’ll find him no matter what,” Riku said, drawing Sora to his side and kissing his temple. Ventus looked away, feeling like he was intruding on their private moment, and his face flushed when he immediately made eye contact with Vanitas. Clearing his throat, Ventus began moving forward.

“Let’s go. Roxas is waiting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can't catch me, gay thoughts!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy some gay shenanigans. i'm having trouble with slow burn, so i don't think the tag applies anymore.
> 
> sorry for such an erratic upload schedule. catch me on twitter @waywardriot to see me complaining about writing and crying over vanitas.

They slowly made their way into the city, Riku and Kairi both holding Sora’s hands to comfort him. He assured them that he was certain they would find Roxas, there was no way they wouldn’t, he was just nervous to see him again. Ventus didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but he didn’t say anything for his sake.

Within the city, there were many winding paths and dead ends that didn’t make sense, so it took some time to find their way as they went back and forth. It was weirdly empty, so there was no way to ask for directions, but they eventually made their way to the center of the city. 

The building towered overhead, huge and oddly sterile. Vanitas commented on that, but Sora insisted that it must be if they deal with public health. All around the main complex was a very tall wall with barbed wire at the top—it was obvious that they were deadly serious—with a heavily reinforced gate.

“We can’t get in. What now?” Riku sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Vanitas motioned to the side. “Look. An intercom.” Ventus stared nervously at it, fidgeting with his hands, but Vanitas didn’t hesitate, ever the confident one, promptly going up and pressing the button.

A smooth male voice crackled through. “This is the Oblivion Complex. What is it you require?”

“Yeah, we have someone here with the virus—dormant. We were instructed to come here from Radiant Garden,” Vanitas replied.

There was silence on the other end for many tense seconds, then the voice came through again. “Someone will be there to escort you for screening shortly. Please wait.” With that, the intercom died down, and they were left to wait.

Sora was bouncing on his heels anxiously, and Riku was trying to keep a hold of his hand, proving difficult as he wouldn’t stop moving. 

“Do you think we’ll get to see him right away? Are we going to have to wait for testing? Where do you think he is? Will they let us even see him? Will—” Sora babbled until Riku stopped him by pulling him into a crushing hug, burying Sora’s face into his chest.

“It’s gonna be fine. Stop fretting, or you’re just gonna freak yourself out more,” Riku sighed, and Sora buried his face further into Riku’s chest, successfully quieted.

After a few anxious minutes, a blue-haired man made it to the gate, it opening automatically. He didn’t delay a single second, not even introducing himself before saying, “Let’s go. Don’t tarry.”

Ventus gave a nervous glance to Vanitas, who simply shrugged a little and followed behind the man. Ventus knew they didn’t have a choice, so he continued on, staying close to Vanitas—for safety, not comfort, of course. The others were close behind, Riku holding Sora’s hand and Kairi linking her arm with his.

* * *

The inside felt just as sterile as the outside, scrubbed clean and stark white. It felt oddly deserted, only seeing another person once they entered another room and took a seat.

“Zexion will deal with you now,” the man—whose name they still didn’t know—said curtly before leaving.

The new man, Zexion, snapped on a pair of gloves before speaking. “We’re going to do the test again for all of you to be absolutely sure. It will be the blood test, which you should know will take some time, so you will all be in quarantine until the results come back.”

“But—” Sora started to protest before Riku gripped his thigh. His look said ‘not now’.

Zexion didn’t seem bothered by Sora’s outburst, continuing to prepare the supplies for the blood draw. As he conducted it, he was obviously immensely skilled at what he did, it barely hurting and going by quickly. As he finished bandaging up Kairi, there was a knock on the door, and an unbelievably lanky man entered the room. He was such an odd figure in this clean, stark place—sharp green eyes, flaming red hair in spikes, and small tattoos underneath his eyes.

“These the ones for quarantine?” he asked, leaning against the doorframe. 

“Yes. Go ahead and get them out of here,” Zexion gestured, and Sora looked vaguely offended at how they were being brushed off.

Axel sighed. “Alright. The name’s Axel. Got it memorized?” he said as he tapped a finger to his temple, exiting the room.

Sora promptly rushed out the door after him. “Are— are there other people here? N-not faculty.”

Axel scratched the back of his head. “People have come and gone, but there’s only one besides you right now. His name is R—”

“Roxas?!” Sora shouted, his eyes lighting up. “Can we go see him?!”

“Yeah, Roxas. You can’t for now, though,” Axel said apologetically. “You really shouldn’t be allowed to see anyone until you’re out of quarantine. Protocol.”

Sora instantly looked crestfallen, staring at the ground, and Riku put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. “Sor, it won’t be long. We can settle in and head to sleep early. Tomorrow will be here before you know it,” Riku soothed, and Sora leaned further into him and sighed, refusing to speak—a first, Ventus thought.

Axel continued leading them down the hallway, past many doors and eventually reaching a large room with four sets of bunk beds, a table, and some chairs. “It’s pretty barren, but it’s not meant for a long stay. There’s a bathroom across the hallway if you need it, and I’ll be here to get you tomorrow when the results are in.”

“Right. Thanks for the help,” Vanitas yawned. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m fucking tired.”

The others murmured their assent, choosing to sit down for a quick meal first, since it looked as if they’d be stuck in that room for some time. They were running low on food, but hopefully the facility could provide for them if they were going to stay here.

After that, they chose their beds; Sora took the top of one bunk—having brightened up considerably upon seeing them, proclaiming that ‘it’s like Boy Scout camp!’—while Riku took the bottom of the same, Ventus took the top of another bunk, Vanitas took that bottom of that bunk, and Kairi took the bottom of her own bunk.

Ventus stared at the ceiling for the longest time, listening to the others fidget and arrange themselves until they fell asleep, soft snores filling the room. After some time, Vanitas’s head suddenly appeared at the edge of Ventus’s bunk, making him jump a little. 

“Hey,” Vanitas smiled, propping his head on his arms on the edge of Ventus’s mattress right by his head.

“H-hey,” Ventus replied, his voice cracking a little. “What’s up?”

Vanitas shrugged. “Nothing. Are you alright?”

Ventus heaved out a sigh. “I guess. Just… tired. Emotionally. Why?”

Vanitas shrugged again. “You just seemed off to me.”

“That’s awfully intuitive,” Ventus laughed. “It’s just been a lot. Everything. Will the journey ever end, you know?”

“It’s gotta eventually. Who knows, maybe your virus will help them have a breakthrough, then we can go back to Radiant Garden and let the world fix itself.”

Ventus quirked an eyebrow. “We?”

Vanitas muttered something Ventus didn’t hear under his breath. “Well, uh, that’s where both of us were going originally. Might as well go back there.”

“Oh.” Ventus wasn’t sure why he felt disappointed. “Yeah. That would be nice.”

Ventus had been laying on his back, and he turned over so that he was face-to-face with Vanitas. His eyes were dark, some emotion underlaid in them that Ventus could never hope to decipher—Vanitas himself was undecipherable.

Vanitas sighed out through his nose, and Ventus admired his lips and his tousled hair. Vanitas’s eyes flickered down to his lips, too, and Ventus felt himself being drawn in, sucked into the whirlpool of Vanitas’s eyes. Time passed by in a flash and suddenly, Vanitas was close enough to him to feel his breath on his lips. Ventus’s eyes fluttered shut as his mouth parted just the slightest bit and—

He suddenly jolted back. “Virus. Saliva. Uh. W-we don’t know if I’m c-contagious,” he babbled.

Vanitas looked positively shattered for a moment, then it was like a shutter closed over his eyes, hiding his emotions from Ventus again. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry,” Ventus whispered.

Vanitas shook his head, nonverbally letting Ventus know he didn’t want to talk about it. “Try to get some sleep. Like I told you, worrying won’t help anything. Things will work out, anyways.” Vanitas gave Ventus that tentative crooked smile that he was starting to find endearing before ducking down and getting back into his bed.

Ventus knew he needed to sleep like Vanitas said, but he couldn’t help spending time thinking about Vanitas—not in a weird way, of course. Vanitas seemed… sentimental, at times. There was a side of him that he showed the world, harsh and cold, but he was showing Ventus another side he didn’t know existed; there was a boy who desperately wanted friends, who wanted to comfort the people he likes (does he actually like Ventus?).

Ventus supposed he did. They wouldn’t have made it this far, otherwise.

* * *

Ventus woke up before anyone else, quietly opening the door and shuffling out to the bathroom. It was set up like a gym bathroom, with a few toilets and showers. He decided to take a shower, given that it had been awhile since he’d actually cleaned himself in something resembling civility. There were towels and shampoo available, so it was already miles ahead of everywhere else he’d been.

Ventus didn’t know how long he stood there, letting the soap run out of his hair as the scalding water beat on his body, filling the room up with steam. When he finally wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out of the stall, he was slightly surprised to see Sora there, washing his hands.

“Good morning,” Ventus yawned. “Are you excited to see Roxas?”

Sora’s eyes immediately brightened, and he grinned so hard it seemed like his cheeks were going to split open. “Yeah. I really love him, and I missed him.”

Ventus gave Sora a smile and a noise of affirmation as he worked on drying himself off and getting dressed—the boys had no more reservations about being naked around each other, given all the time they’d spent together.

Ventus nearly dropped his shirt on the wet ground as Sora surprised him once again with a soft voice from behind him, oddly serious.

“Do you love him?”

“Wh-who?” Ventus blushed, his hands shaking. He knew who.

Sora simply gave him a look. “You know.”

Ventus pulled on his shirt and coughed into his arm. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He left Sora behind in the bathroom as he rushed back into their room, cheeks burning as he refused to think about that question that had lurked in his mind for too long.

* * *

Axel still hadn’t come to get them, so Ventus laid in his bed, face buried in his pillow. Kairi and Riku were talking softly, and Vanitas still seemed asleep, so Ventus figured he could get away with moping—thankfully, Vanitas couldn’t notice.

Ventus wasn’t sure, but he may have drifted off to sleep again before being jolted awake by a knock on the door.

“You guys awake?” came Axel’s voice, slightly muffled.

Riku was already standing, so he opened the door for him. “Yeah. Are the results in?”

“Yup,” Axel said, drawing out the ‘u’. “As expected, the four of you are clean, and Ventus isn’t. Zexion had a closer look, and it’s definitely dormant, like Roxas.”

Ventus was sitting up, and he held his face in his hands; he felt so relieved that he had proof from a facility of this caliber that he _wasn’t_ going to die—not that he didn’t trust Radiant Garden, but the worry had still weighed on his mind.

“Can I see Roxas now?!” Sora, blurted out, practically shouting.

“Sure, kid. Let’s go get him,” Axel smiled, clapping Sora on the shoulder.

* * *

Sora had promptly skidded out of the room, banging into the doorframe and leaving before Axel could even tell him where Roxas was. He didn’t have to search, though—it seemed he intuitively knew that Roxas would be right there, right at the moment when he needed him.

“Roxas!” Sora cried out, and he instantly started running, almost falling over on the slick tiles.

There he was, a blonde, tired looking boy standing at the end of the hallway, his eyes slightly widening when he caught sight of Sora.

It felt like time slowed down, and not just for Sora. The world narrowed, and everything stopped existing. All that there was was this hallway, this moment, everything leading up to it as Sora leapt at Roxas.

Sora overestimated how strong and excited he was, and as he crashed into Roxas, they both went down, Sora giving out a shout.

“B-babe,” Roxas said breathlessly, irreverent love in his eyes. “Is it really you?”

Sora couldn’t even speak, only nodding as he was sobbing too hard as his tears dripped onto Roxas’s face. He was straddling his hips and leaned down to take Roxas’s lips into the softest embrace. It was a kiss full of sloppy tears and laughter and choked sobs; it held all their hopes and fears, what felt like a lifetime of separation. It was obvious they had forgotten their surroundings, holding each other’s face and kissing each other over and over and over as Roxas reassured Sora that was here and he wasn’t going to leave.

Vanitas crossed his arms, tapping his foot. “I’m gonna barf.”

“Shut up, idiot. They’re happy,” Ventus scoffed as he roughly elbowed Vanitas in the side.

He rolled his eyes. “I’d be happy if they stopped kissing.”

“Yeah, yeah, we all know you hate love and happiness. Get over it.” 

After Vanitas loudly cleared his throat for the tenth time, Sora finally stopped trying to apparently devour Roxas and got off him before offering a hand to help him up.

Roxas stared at them, rather embarrassed with a light pink tinge to his cheeks. “Hi.”

Sora looped an arm around Roxas’s waist and leaned his head on his shoulder. “This is my other boyfriend, Roxas.”

Roxas blushed more, trying to hide his face in Sora’s hair. “Sor, stoooop,” he whined. “I just met them, this is embarrassing.”

“I missed you so bad, I can’t! I’ll die!” Sora whined too.

Roxas covered his face with his hands. “I missed you too, but you’re killing me!”

“Expect him to be like that for the next few weeks,” Riku laughed. “He’s too clingy.”

“Riku. Hey,” Roxas replied a little flatly, gripping Sora closer and wrinkling his nose—there was that cute pout that Sora had talked on and on about.

Riku smirked. “Nice to see you too.”

Kairi had already skipped down the hallway to crush Sora and Roxas in her arms in the biggest hug. She gave Roxas a huge kiss on the cheek before saying, a bit teary-eyed, “I’m so glad you’re okay, Rox. I missed you.”

Roxas rubbed the back of his head and laughed. “I missed you too, Kai. Can you actually introduce me to your… friends, though?”

“Oh!” Kairi exclaimed, brightening up. “The blonde one is Ventus, and the cranky-looking one is Vanitas.”

“Hey, I can hear you,” Vanitas grumbled, leaning against the wall.

Kairi stuck her tongue out at him. “Ventus has the same deal with the virus as you, so he’s here to help. Vanitas was a package deal with him.”

“What, are they dating?” Roxas asked nonchalantly, leaning his head on Sora’s head.

Ventus started spluttering, “N-no, we’re not,” while Vanitas cackled, and Roxas gave him a knowing look as Ventus tried to avoid making eye contact.

* * *

After a few more minutes of reunion, which was mostly Sora alternating between laughing and weeping, Axel continued escorting them, explaining that they were going to meet the head of the facility for a briefing and to figure out what to do next.

As Sora and Roxas stopped for what felt like the millionth time to kiss, Ventus had a sudden realization, whipping around to face Axel. “Wait, they’ve been kissing—is it not contagious?!”

Axel gave him a bemused look. “No, the virus is dormant, of course it’s not.”

Ventus stopped to lean on the wall and groaned, covering his face with his hands. Today was not his day.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this one took so long to get out! i had terrible writer's block, but managed to get it done with the help of a friend. this one is honestly kind of filler, but it's necessary stuff to flesh out, so bear with me!
> 
> also, please god ignore my organization characterization. i’m not trying.

After they all grabbed their bags, Axel began to lead them through the winding halls, and Ventus was continually surprised by how much of a labyrinth this place was—he reminded himself to never go far on his own, or who knows if he’d see the light of day again.

Eventually, they reached a large set of doors, and their ornateness reminded Ventus of the entrance to a throne room; however, they simply opened to a rather large office.

“Lord Xemnas, here are the newcomers I told you about. This one,” Axel said, motioning to Ventus, “is the one with the dormant virus like Roxas here.”

Xemnas slid some papers he was working on into a drawer next to him. With a voice so low and gravely it was intimidating, he simply asked, “Is he planning on staying?”

Ventus cleared his throat before speaking, trying to make sure he didn’t mess up his words in his anxiety. “Yes, I want to help. Like Roxas.”

“Are the rest of us allowed to stay here even though we can’t help?” Sora butted in, ever impatient. “I don’t want to leave them behind!” Ventus was pretty sure Sora would burst into tears if he had to leave Roxas’s side for more than one minute ever again.

Xemnas folded his fingers together as his eyebrows knitted together, deep in thought. “That will not work. There are many delicate things going on here, and it may not be safe for more civilians than necessary.”

Sora’s lip was already quivering, and Riku drew him to his side, as this was absolutely not the ideal situation for him to cry in. Thankfully, Axel spoke up. “Superior, with all due respect, I think we can make it work. They can stay near the administrative wing in the temporary lodging, away from the medical wings.”

Xemnas sighed and leveled his stare on Axel, and Ventus thought that if he had to deal with eye contact like that, he’d shrivel up. “That would be most inconvenient, but I suppose we can organize something. Speak to Saïx about the arrangements.”

Axel rolled his eyes. “Got it.” It was obvious they were dismissed, Xemnas returning to his work without sparing them another glance. They were all happy to be out of there—Xemnas gave the impression that he could snap very, very easily, and none of them were willing to risk it.

Once in the hallway, Axel groaned and rubbed the back of his head. “Fair warning, Saïx kind of has a stick up his ass, but we don’t have a choice since he deals with most of the stuff that Xemnas doesn’t.”

“I think anyone would be better than Xemnas,” Kairi shivered. “He’s kind of scary.”

“Eh, Saïx is harsh in his own way,” Axel shrugged. “You get used to it, though. Now let’s go find wherever that bastard went.”

* * *

After far too much wandering and asking around—this place seriously was too big—they managed to track down Saïx, standing in some remote hallway giving instructions to another man. Turns out, Saïx was the first man they’d met, the austere one with blue hair who barely acknowledged their presence.

“Axel, you didn’t tell us we already met him! He seems as bad as Xemnas!” Sora hissed.

Axel didn’t dignify him with a response, shaking his head and turning to the men. “Saïx, we need your help. Superior’s orders,” Axel cut in to their conversation.

“Can this wait?” Saïx sighed tersely.

“Ah, are these the new kiddos I’ve heard about?” the other man grinned—he certainly was unique, with a long dark ponytail streaked with grey and an eyepatch covering his right eye. “Name’s Xigbar. I’ll be getting out of your way, then, so have fun with Saïx.” With that brief introduction, he turned and left, casually waving a hand behind him.

Saïx sighed once again and crossed his arms. “What is it? I have other things to be attending to.”

“Xemnas is allowing them to lodge near the administrative wing, so we need to find rooms for them and get them set up.”

“Is that really what he said? That’s going to take a toll, having six people there and having to find arrangements for board,” Saïx questioned, looking exasperated already.

“You can ask him if you don’t trust me, but that’s what we agreed on,” Axel shrugged. “We just need to get it done, and you’re the man to do it.” 

Saïx tapped his foot on the ground in thought. “Well, I suppose there are the individual rooms for guest officials, but some will have to double up, as there are only four available. We will sort out the food situation later.”

“You guys good with sharing rooms?” Axel asked, leaning against the wall.

“Um…” Sora hummed, looking between Riku and Roxas—they were already staring daggers at each other, and Ventus was anticipating a fight about who was going to get Sora. “We’ll manage, I think.”

“That’s settled, then. Axel, you can lead them there, and I will contact you later about logistics,” Saïx instructed before simply turning on his heel and leaving.

“People don’t really say ‘goodbye’ here, do they?” Riku chuckled.

Axel laughed in return. “A lot of them are dicks, but that’s life. Now let’s get going so I can take a nap.”

* * *

Turns out, they were already near the administrative wing, so it only took a few minutes to get there, Axel leading them swiftly as he rambled about the various important people who worked there. Ventus wasn’t listening at all, suddenly gripped with anxiety about the rooming situation. Kairi would probably get her own room since she was a girl, and Sora would certainly room with either Roxas or Riku. Ventus guessed he could room with Riku if he had to, but that may be awkward given that they hadn’t gotten as close as the others had, and it would be undeniably awkward rooming with Roxas, who he’d just met. All that left was Vanitas, unless Ventus was allowed to room on his own. He spent the walk gnawing on his on his thumbnail, going over the setups in his head over and over again.

Once they reached the rooms, Axel opened them up and showed them the accommodations. They were _far_ nicer than the quarantine room with a bathroom attached to each—Axel explained that they were intended for more esteemed guests who had to visit for administrative purposes—so Ventus was feeling less anxious about what living there would be like.

“I get Sora,” Roxas piped up instantly, glaring at Riku as he held Sora’s hand.

Riku groaned. “Seriously, Roxas? We don’t know how long we’re gonna be here.”

“I’ve been separated from him for ages, and you’ve gotten to sleep next to him every night,” Roxas snapped.

“Outside! In the dirt! We weren’t exactly cuddling and making out!” Riku hissed in return.

“Oh, god, I don’t want to know if you guys are gonna be getting it on in there,” Vanitas groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Sora whined, “Guys, please don’t fight, we can just—”

He was interrupted by Roxas, still determined. “You still got to spend _time_ with him! I just want to be with my fucking boyfriend!”

“He’s my boyfriend too, asswipe!” Riku nearly yelled. “You’re not gonna hog him like you always do!”

“Are you serious? Me, hogging him? You literally—”

“STOP!” Sora yelled. “Can’t you guys just trade every night? Please?”

Riku and Roxas immediately looked slightly guilty upon seeing Sora’s upset face, though that didn’t stop them from shooting each other angry looks still. They grumbled an agreement, shifting on their feet and rolling their eyes—Ventus could really see how similar they were in actions.

“Thank you, babe,” Sora smiled, holding Roxas’s face to kiss him and rub their noses together, and Roxas pouted into the kiss. Sora turned and did the same thing to Riku—Riku smiling possessively into the kiss and holding tight—saying, “Thank you, love.”

“Have you ever heard of PDA? Enough of that,” Vanitas groaned.

“Don’t worry, Vani, you’ll get your own one day,” Kairi winked at both Vanitas and Ventus, and Ventus looked at the ground, cheeks burning as it was obvious what she was insinuating.

“Okay, so what about everyone else?” Sora hummed, happy now that his boyfriends weren’t actively at each other’s throats.

“Well, I’m obviously getting one of the single rooms. No arguments!” Kairi smiled sweetly, and no one was willing to argue with her anyways; bar the fact that she was a girl, they also all knew that she could kick their asses in one go.

“Roxas and I should switch between the other single room, since I doubt it would be fun for Ven or Vanitas to deal with roommates switching constantly,” Riku commented, ever the reasonable one.

“Then I guess that just leaves me and Ventus,” Vanitas grinned, obviously taking delight in this situation and how uncomfortable it was going to make Ventus.

“I guess…” Ventus muttered. It wasn’t like they’d be there forever, and Ventus could avoid the room unless they were sleeping, right? 

Okay, he was wrong. He knew it was going to be terrible, but it was the most reasonable choice.

“That’s settled, then!” Sora grinned, clapping his hands together. “Let’s put our things in our rooms!”

There were two on each side of the hall, directly across from each other, so they entered their rooms, Roxas and Riku already bickering about who was going to share with Sora first. Ventus awkwardly looked around the room—it was well furnished, almost like a hotel room. There was a large bed, which Ventus was very thankful for so that they wouldn’t have to be pressed up together, a large dresser and bedside tables, a sitting area with chairs, and a closet and of course the attached bathroom. Practically fit for royalty compared to what they’d all been dealing with.

The most evidence that they were in a government facility and in fact not in a hotel was the lack of windows, given that they were within the interior of the building—plus Ventus guessed that it was also for security purposes, if high-ranking officials ever stayed here. He was fine without the windows anyways, since looking outside in these times could be rather depressing what with the effects of everything that had been happening to the world.

Ventus put his things down and decided to actually unpack some of his belongings since traveling constantly meant you never got to really settle down. He busied himself with putting his few clothes in the dresser and amenities in the bathroom, steadfastly ignoring Vanitas who was relaxing in one of the chairs and very obviously watching his every move.

Once Ventus was done, he sat down in a chair diagonal from Vanitas and fidgeted as he thought of what to do next. Coolly appraising him, Vanitas spoke up. “What side?”

“Wh-what?” Ventus stuttered, too anxious for his own good.

“You know. The bed. What side you want to sleep on,” Vanitas said, rolling his eyes. Ventus hated how him being flustered always seemed to amuse Vanitas endlessly.

“Oh. Um, I don’t really care. Right, I guess?” Ventus shrugged nervously, shifting on his feet.

“I’m not going to bite you, you know. You don’t have to be so scared of me,” Vanitas almost _purred._

“I-I’m not scared. I don’t think you’re going to hurt me,” Ventus whispered, winding his fingers together.

Vanitas tapped his fingers on his armrest. “Why so nervous, then?”

Ventus just stuttered, not able to get any comprehensible words out, but thankfully, someone barged in at that moment.

“Ever heard of knocking?” Vanitas sighed.

“What? You’re not doing anything!” Sora grinned, looking innocent. “You guys wanna come along to get Roxas’s stuff from his room in the medical wing?”

Ventus nearly launched himself out of his chair, nodding enthusiastically. He didn’t want to spend more time in here alone with Vanitas than necessary, lest he keep prodding. Ventus didn’t like the answer to Vanitas’s last question.

* * *

With the weight of Ventus’s test and finding Roxas off all of their chests, they were actually able to enjoy themselves at least a little. They had all decided to come along to get Roxas’s things—which was completely unnecessary, since it wasn’t like he actually needed help—and Sora and Kairi were skipping down the hallway hand in hand, being very loud. Roxas was dragged into it occasionally, and it was sickeningly sweet to see how Sora brought the brightness straight out of him.

It was like dealing with a bunch of rowdy children and they got chastised by some passing person more than once, but they couldn’t help it. They spent the remainder of the day running around and stuffing their faces full of food once Axel found them and brought them to a cafeteria. Despite the situation and surroundings, it was truly relaxing for the first time in forever.

* * *

As the sun fell, Ventus got even more antsy, hardly able to keep still as he dreaded the night—his greatest fear was waking up _clinging_ to Vanitas, as he tended to be cuddly. He thought he’d actually die if that happened. 

They all settled down and shut themselves in their respective rooms (it had been decided that Roxas would be with Sora that night with much grumbling from Riku), and Vanitas proposed that Ventus take the first shower. He was very grateful for it, as it was even nicer than the shower he’d used before, and he felt like an actual person. While Vanitas took a shower, Ventus laid in bed, very nearly drifting off.

Ventus was laying on his side facing the bathroom—as that would be facing away from Vanitas when he got into bed—when Vanitas exited, and _of course_ he only had a towel wrapped around his waist. Ventus didn’t know why he expected anything less, honestly.

Ventus actually _squeaked_ and covered his face. “Get some clothes on, seriously!”

“What? I have the goods covered up,” Vanitas laughed. “I just need to get clothes since I forgot to.”

“You’re going to be the death of me,” Ventus grumbled, covering his head with blankets so he wouldn’t have to see Vanitas anymore.

When Ventus heard the bathroom door shut again, he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to fall asleep before Vanitas came out, but he failed. As he felt Vanitas crawl into bed next to him, he tried to steady his breath and pretend like he was, hoping to avoid the awkward conversation from earlier.

“Ven, are you awake?” Vanitas whispered, and Ventus’s breath nearly hitched from the use of the nickname—sure, everyone called him that, but it felt oddly _intimate_ coming from Vanitas, who normally only called him his full name. Still, he managed to keep his breathing even, or at least enough so that Vanitas didn’t suspect anything.

“Guess not,” Vanitas sighed. “We do have to talk about it someday, though…”

Ventus laid awake long after Vanitas’s breathing had evened out. He knew he was right, but his stomach still clenched at the thought of vocalizing something buried so far down in his heart that he could barely grab it. Not like he had time to think of things like love—not love, he whispered to himself—among all the more pressing issues. Vanitas could wait.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry the last chapters have been kinda filler! it's necessary filler, but we should be getting to more relevant plot stuff soon, and we'll hit the climax before we know it!
> 
> as i've said before, if the science sounds wrong, that's because this is my fantasy world and i make the rules (also i'm too dumb to make it perfect)

Ventus was now prone to post-traumatic nightmares, often waking up shaking and sweating. He had suffered with chronic nightmares in his youth, but they were child’s dreams—fears of falling endlessly, of the monsters in the dark, of being lost. Now, he normally watched his parents waste away before his eyes; in a cruel twist of fate, this time, it was his friends crumbling away under his touch.

He watched the apples of Kairi’s cheeks turn pale and hollow as they stretched over her skull, watched Riku’s long, once luxurious hair turn brittle until it fell out with the lightest breeze, watched Sora’s smile become tight-lipped as his skin turned sallow and wasted, watched Vanitas’s sharp eyes turn dull as they sunk deeper into his head and lost their light. He held them as they faded away, decomposing in his grasp.

He woke up bolt alright, panting and wheezing in the bed with the visions of his friends fading into light and dust in his arms permeating into his soul. 

Fortunately—also unfortunately because Ventus didn’t want to be seen like this—Vanitas was up instantly, coming to consciousness with a gasp of, “What’s going on?” 

He looked ready to fight instantly, reflex triggered, so Ventus wheezed out an apology between sobs. “No—I’m, I’m okay, just—nightmare.” His heart continued hammering against his ribs as he shoved his face in his hands, trying in vain to calm his breaths.

Vanitas let out a curse under his breath. “Hey, no, it’s okay,” he soothed, placing a timid hand on Ventus’s back. “I’m here. It’s okay.”

Ventus let out a shaky sigh, nearly a sob. “I’m—I’m sorry.”

Vanitas shushed him gently, rubbing his back. He wound a gentle arm around his waist, pulling him closer slowly to give him a chance to reject him if he needed. Ventus let this happen, let Vanitas lay them down with Ventus loosely held in his arms, a good distance between them. He seemed oddly skilled at this, reassuring Ventus with words to ground him and then transitioning into distractions, talking about things he knew Ventus liked. 

Ventus continued shuddering as what felt like endless tears rolled down his cheeks, face still obscured in his hands as he let the drops soak into them freely. Vanitas gently carded his hand through his hair, soothing him with a soft keen. At that moment, there was a knock at the door, and Vanitas let out a testy sigh.

“Who is it?” he called out in a slightly weary voice.

“Me!” a voice that was decidedly Sora called. “We’re going to go get breakfast, do you wanna come with us?”

“Go on ahead. We’ll be there soon.”

Sora shouted his affirmation and left, and Ventus let out a choked sob as soon as the footsteps faded. In response to that, Vanitas pulled him closer to his chest; Ventus froze for an instant, surprised by this new close contact. Still, he was so tired and so starved for touch and comfort that he let it happen.

For the first time, Ventus let himself relax against him, somehow not scared of their proximity.

* * *

Once Ventus calmed down enough to function and get ready, they left together to meet the others at the cafeteria, a weird silence drifting between them. Ventus got the impression that Vanitas wanted to talk about his nightmare and what happened after, but Ventus knew he couldn’t handle that right now—at least Vanitas had the discretion to not say anything at that moment, despite his wants. Ventus steadfastly ignored the thoughts with his head down, hurrying to get his food and sit down with the others once they arrived.

As per usual, Sora was too chipper for the early hour, chatting animatedly to Roxas about something while Riku listened with chin in his hand and eyes half-closed and Kairi nursed a steaming coffee. Ventus thumped his plate on the table and slumped into the chair next to Kairi, already ready to go back to sleep.

“No offense, but you look awful, Ven. What’s wrong?” Riku asked with a yawn between words.

“It’s… nothing. It’s stupid. Just nightmares,” he sighed as he played with his food.

“Don’t be a dumbass,” Vanitas scoffed. “It’s not stupid. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone nowadays who doesn’t have chronic nightmares.” The others nodded their assent with looks of sympathy.

Ventus stabbed his eggs over and over, maybe a little too roughly. “I guess.”

Kairi pressed a reassuring hand to his back. “It’s okay, Ven. We’re all here for you.” He nodded gratefully in response and started shoveling food in his mouth, hoping to avoid more of the uncomfortable conversation.

They lapsed into an easy breakfast, gradually waking up with the help of sugar and caffeine. Ventus was surprised with how much they felt like… an actual family. Kairi chiding Vanitas for his horrible table manners—him antagonizing her more by licking his plate like a dog—reminded him of his mother, and it made his heart ache just a little. Still, he was happy, grateful for the familiar distraction and normalcy as the last wisps of his nightmare drifted away from his conscious mind.

With perfect timing, Axel came up and slid into one of the empty seats just as they were finishing up and wandering out loud what they were supposed to do with the rest of their day. “So, Ventus, are you ready for the fun medical stuff?”

Ventus squirmed in his seat. “What is it today?”

“They’re just going to do some blood draws. No need for fasting, so it’ll be easy.”

“I’m never gonna be free of needles, aren’t I,” he groaned, slumping down further in his seat.

Roxas laughed sympathetically. “Yeah. It’s not as bad once you get used to it, though.”

Ventus scrubbed his face with his hands, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes to steady himself. “Might as well get it over with.”

“That’s the spirit,” Axel grinned, motioning to Ventus to get up. 

As Ventus moved to stand up, Kairi spoke up and asked, “Ven, do you want someone to come with you?”

Ventus’s eyes—involuntarily, much to his irritation—went directly to Vanitas, who met his gaze with a steady one of his own, face deliberately neutral. “Um—I don’t know—”

“I’ll go with you,” Roxas offered, “since I know better than them how stuff goes.”

Ventus thought it would be a bit awkward given how they had pretty much just met, but it _would_ be a good chance to get to know him, and he couldn’t deny that dealing with needles on his own felt too scary. When he nodded his affirmation, Roxas got up, and Axel led them both off, clapping them on the back and chattering about something irrelevant.

* * *

They were led to the medical wing and back to Zexion, which Ventus was thankful for since he seemed relatively nice and non-grating, unlike some of the other staff he’d met. Axel left them to it while Ventus sat in the designated chair and Roxas leaned on the counter next to him, whistling absentmindedly.

As Zexion bumbled around prepping things, Ventus saw the number of vials he had in a small basket and immediately started panicking. “H-How many of those are there?”

“Twelve,” Zexion replied coolly, not batting an eyelash.

“You’re going to steal all my blood,” Ventus balked in a wavering voice, and Roxas threw his head back and laughed loudly.

“You’ll be fine,” he chuckled, wiping his eyes. “He’ll give you food and water afterwards, so you’ll get your… stolen blood back.” Zexion nodded in agreement.

Ventus groaned and covered his eyes with one hand as Zexion prepped the other arm, tying the tourniquet and swiping the vein with alcohol. When he started the draw, Ventus immediately gasped and lashed out his good arm, grabbing onto Roxas’s forearm in an iron grip. He apologized with his eyes, but Roxas just smiled lightly and shrugged, so Ventus kept his hold for the sake of his own stability.

It took far too long this time compared to the meager amount of blood Ventus had had taken before, and it was taking his all not to panic the longer he could feel the needle remaining in his arm. When Zexion finally withdrew it and bandaged him up, he slumped down in the chair, head thrown back.

“You know, I really hate needles.”

“Everyone does,” Zexion replied dryly, shoving a small carton of juice and a package of cookies in his hands. 

Ventus started eating as he was already feeling woozy and decided to ask more questions. “What other stuff are they gonna do? Like… how do they make vaccines?”

He regretted asking that question quickly as Zexion leaned against a counter and rambled on and on about viruses and bacteria and living versus nonliving ones and—. It was all far too much as he felt his eyes going glassy, so he settled for shoving food in his mouth and pretending he was listening. After the longwinded explanation, Zexion discussed a few of the other tests, and they all sounded largely uncomfortable, which was fantastic for Ventus. 

“These are so complicated… Why are there so many?” Ventus sighed, and Roxas nodded along with him.

Zexion sighed and gave the two of them a look as if he were contemplating their idiocy (and he probably was). “Like I explained, the process is complicated, and we have many failsafes to make sure we get what we need. We’ll also be doing some extra tests to see _why_ you’re both immune. You’ve surely noticed your similarity in appearance, right? Are you related?”

“Not to my knowledge,” Roxas replied with a shrug.

“Well, it’d be beneficial to see if there’s a genetic component, perhaps some genes related to your appearances. That’s more complicated, so it’ll take more time, but it’s important for the research.”

This was starting to go over Ventus’s head again, so he continued to nod throughout the explanation and pretend he wasn’t about to fall asleep, and it seemed Roxas was doing the same.

“By the way, we’ll be repeating the same thing tomorrow, but you have to fast for those blood tests. You can have water, but don’t eat after midnight. Axel will bring you for the draw around noon,” he finalized, putting some paperwork away.

Ventus scowled into his juice, clambering out of the chair to leave, still a little shaky. “Thanks. Is that all?”

Zexion gave them permission to go, and so Ventus and Roxas headed out; Axel wasn’t there anymore, so they were left to find their way back to their friends in a slightly awkward silence. Ventus decided he might as well try to talk to Roxas; he seemed nice enough, and if Sora and Kairi liked him—Riku was highly debatable—then it was worth it to become friends, however long that would take. 

“What is it like dealing with all the medical stuff?”

Roxas sighed, scuffing his shoes as he walked. “It can be… scary. But it’s better if you have friends with you, so you’re lucky you don’t have to do it alone at all.”

Ventus felt a pang in his heart—it must have been impossibly hard for Roxas, alone in a place like this with strange and often intimidating people. He realized that Roxas wouldn’t have known if the others were alive either; he was just as bad off as the others, if not worse because he had to travel on his own. The world had become quite scary, and frankly, Roxas was lucky that he was alive to see his loved ones again.

“I’m sorry…” Ventus knew he shouldn’t be apologizing, but it was just a reflex. “You’re… home with all of us, though. As long as we stick together, life will be better.”

Roxas was quiet for a long moment, the only sound in the hallway the light squeaking of their shoes against the stark tiles. His eventual answer was a simple ‘yeah’ as they reached their friends who were relaxing in a communal lounge near the cafeteria.

“Rox!” Sora bounced up with a wide smile, pulling him by the arm until he was sitting next to him with Sora nearly curled around him. He had his free hand on Riku’s thigh, stroking it in a reassuring motion. Riku was draped over the couch with one of his arms wrapped around Kairi, who seemed to be dozing under the comfort of her best friend.

Vanitas had a noticeable distance between him and the others, so Ventus slotted himself in the space between him and Kairi. “How did it go?” Vanitas asked, casually draping an arm on the back of the couch behind Ventus’s head.

“It was… something,” Ventus sighed, sticking his tongue out at his lap—he was steadfastly not looking at Vanitas.

Roxas laughed, nose nuzzling Sora’s hair. “They stole all his blood, as he said several times.”

Vanitas laughed uproariously in answer, and Ventus pouted, slumping back onto the couch until he felt Vanitas’s arm flush to his neck. He couldn’t even be bothered to move, soaking in the light touch. Yeah, he still was embarrassed about that morning, but since Vanitas wasn’t mentioning it, he wouldn’t either.

“So, do we know how long all this is going to take?” Vanitas yawned, adjusting his arm closer to Ventus.

“Um… I didn’t think to ask.”

“It’s not like we have anywhere important to be,” Riku shrugged. “We could stay here forever, honestly. Nice food and accommodations.”

“Yeah! We’re just gonna go back to Radiant Garden afterwards, I think, since that was our original destination. It feels like a lifetime ago…” Sora sighed, somewhat morosely.

Ventus clenched and unclenched his fist against his thigh. “I think I’ll do that too. It’s weird to have a goal in sight after all this wandering.”

After careful consideration, he continued. “Really, though, you don’t have to stay here if you don’t need to. Roxas should be done with the medical stuff before me since he was here earlier.”

“Don’t be dumb,” Kairi chided, her words affectionate even with the light insult. “We’ve been traveling together for so long, I don’t think it would be right to lose you.”

“Plus we’re going to the same place,” Riku shrugged, and then he was pinched by Sora for his insensitivity. “Hey, I mean I still consider them our friends too! It’s just easier to travel together.”

Ventus gave a sigh of relief and thanked them—his friends. Somehow, he had made genuine connections through these terrible, painful times, and this was unbelievably lucky. Honestly, he didn’t know where he’d be without all of them now; he was actually grateful for Vanitas too, and even if he bothered and goaded him constantly, Ventus had grown to consider him… something. He didn’t know what it exactly was, but it sure was something.

As he sat surrounded by his friends, he felt a small flame of hope and happiness set fire in his chest. Things were proceeding the way they were supposed to be, and there seemed to be an end in sight. He was going to help humanity, and he was going to _live_ the way he had wanted to all this time.

Life would never be exactly normal again, but he would make it as normal as possible with friends by his side.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's this? gays and actual plot?!
> 
> as always, pay no attention to the science because this is my world and i decide how it works
> 
> also, with this i've reached 20k words! :confetti:

Time seemed to pass rather quickly, the days consumed by medical tests; Ventus had endless blood draws and MRIs and CAT scans and spinal taps and on and on and on, piles of things he didn’t understand. Zexion did his best to explain them every time, but he wasn’t the best at reducing the explanations down to Ventus’s level.

Things were painful at times, so sometimes he had to rely on his friends to take care of him. After a particularly painful bone marrow extraction, Vanitas and Riku both had to support his weight to half-carry him to their room, his legs too weak to get there on his own. It had been rather embarrassing to be slumped onto them, feet dragging pathetically on the floor, but they had mercifully acted as if it were completely natural and made no untoward comments about it.

It was largely unpleasant, but Ventus told himself over and over that his short time of pain was worth it for the benefit of humanity; he would be happy if his contributions helped at _all_ , even if it was just to lead researchers in an entirely different direction.

His ultimate goal had always been to help, and he wasn’t going to get a little discomfort get in his way.

Though, he was starting to get antsy, wondering how long they were going to have to be here—could it be days, or months, or even years? It’s not that he wasn’t happy to help, but that he just wanted to know when he’d get his dream of a more normal life. He hadn’t really asked about the timeframe out of anxiety, but he questioned Zexion on it one day as he laid in the MRI machine.

“Do you have any idea how much longer it will take to develop the vaccine?”

“Stop moving,” Zexion chided. “You can’t rush science. We’ve been working on it for some time, but it may take many more weeks.”

Ventus sighed but stayed silent. It had already been a couple weeks, but it looked like he would have to deal with this abnormal life for more time.

* * *

Given the extent of the time that had gone by, Ventus and Vanitas had spent a lot of time together, still sleeping in the same bed every night. Ventus was growing more comfortable with it as the unbidden feelings pressed harder and harder at the edges of his mind; it was becoming harder and harder to ignore them, so he let himself enjoy the warm feelings in his chest when they laid together.

It had been good for a time despite Ventus’s intermittent night terrors, but in quite an unfortunate twist of events, he had found out why Vanitas was so deft at quelling his panic attacks—he dealt with those of his own. 

Vanitas had nightmares like Ventus, but he presented differently; instead of jerking awake sweating, he trembled and cried out in his sleep, gripping out desperately like scrabbling for purchase at the edge of a chasm. Once Ventus got over his initial surprise at these outbursts, he was the one who Vanitas grabbed onto.

It was scary the first time, waking up to soft cries and mewls from someone who always seemed so… composed. He was shaking like a leaf, and Ventus had no idea what to do at first. He settled for trying to shake Vanitas awake, touching his shoulder and calling his name softly; in response, Vanitas rolled over and gripped his hands into Ventus’s back, sharp fingernails digging in through the shirt.

Ventus winced and attempted to wiggle away from Vanitas’s arms, but he kept at trying to wake him; it was surprisingly difficult as it seemed like Vanitas’s consciousness wanted to hold onto the pain as hard as possible, but Ventus prevailed eventually. Vanitas let out a sob as his eyes slipped open, brimming with yet unshed tears.

“Van… Are you okay?” Ventus whispered, grateful as Vanitas withdrew his claws somewhat.

“I’m—” he started, seeming to hesitate and choke on his words. “It’s—I’m—um…”

“You can tell me anything.”

All Vanitas could manage to do was stretch his arms out further in a silent plead that Ventus hold him; it seemed he was too scared to vocalize such a taboo wish, something that signified weakness.

Ventus hesitated for a moment, eyebrows furrowed slightly in surprise, but he relented eventually and pulled Vanitas to his chest to cradle him in his arms. Vanitas had held Ventus on a few occasions at this point to help him through his nightmares, but Ventus had never been the one to do it, the one to hold his companion’s vulnerability in his arms. Vanitas’s heartbeat against his chest felt like the fluttering wings of a baby bird; regrettably, all he could do was keep that bird safe for that one moment.

Ventus felt the tension leave Vanitas’s body with the physical contact, letting out a shaky breath; for his sake, Ventus ignored the few tears that had slipped out and simply carded a hand through his hair. Vanitas always had something to say when Ventus had an episode, but Ventus was lost for words at this point—he was terrified of saying something that could trigger Vanitas into a further meltdown, so he figured it was safest to just hold him as he wished.

They laid in each other’s arms for a time. Eventually, Vanitas fell asleep, letting out soft snorts and occasionally twitching, and Ventus thought he may have drifted off too—the comfort and warmth was ambrosia to his tired brain.

He was jolted out of his soft doze by Vanitas speaking with a voice rough with sleep and sadness. “Are—are we ever going to talk about it?”

It was obvious he was referring to the same thing as always, but Ventus really had no idea how to go about it. He honestly didn’t even have a grasp on his own tumultuous emotions—dare he say it, he’d never been in _love_ —so he didn’t know what he would say. “I don’t know.”

“I…” Vanitas started before heaving out a huge, shaking sigh. “Just… Thank you for… trusting me and being here.”

“Always.”

That reply, so sure and without hesitation, meant something more to both Vanitas and Ventus. They let it linger in the air as they fell asleep again, not making any attempts to untangle from each other.

* * *

Once Ventus and Vanitas learned they could help each other in sleep, they were more likely to fall asleep in each other’s arms than to drift off alone; holding each other kept the nightmares at bay more effectively than just sleeping in the same bed. This newfound closeness led to one that was slightly more public. They were more prone to make contact in public—though it wasn’t big, grand gestures of feelings like holding hands or, god forbid, _kissing_ , it still showed their progress. Ventus would bump their shoulders together when they joked, Vanitas would sometimes lead him with a hand on his back, and they would let their arms and legs touch closely, among other things.

The others noticed very quickly—Kairi was the most perceptive of the lot, being one who was very open about her feelings and her affections for her friends. She knew the meaning of an arm around one’s shoulders, so she shot happy grins to her friends when she saw them in contact. Ventus would always blush and look away, but Vanitas would press his hand in further, deepening the weight of the touches.

Riku was more casual, lips curving in a knowing smile as he watched them from the corner of his eye. Vanitas would answer his delicate grins with smirks, sharing some unspoken joke between them; sometimes he would direct that smile at Ventus with eyebrows quirking mischievously, and Ventus would simply smack him away in a vain effort to keep from blushing.

Sora himself took more time than his friends to realize, as he did tend to be a bit obtuse at times. He was so used to being open with physical contact that it didn’t quite strike him that _yes, the way Vanitas and Ventus are interacting is something novel._ When he did get it—most likely with the help of Kairi—he sent radiant smiles to them along with frequent thumbs-ups. Oddly, Vanitas was the one flustered by that, so he would avert his gaze while Ventus mirrored the grins.

Roxas was a bit different since his relationship to Ventus and Vanitas was a somewhat unsteady bond, not fully formed as they were still unfamiliar. Though, he had obviously caught on to the tension between them right from the moment he met them, making a quip about the nature of their relationship. He observed them with a curious stare, not giving his thoughts away with his face; however, it was still obvious that he was invested in them.

Ventus still didn’t discuss it with any of his other friends—although he really couldn’t vouch for what Vanitas was doing—but it wasn’t necessary that he did for the others to know. He was happy to live with that, happy to live with the newfound affection, as light as it may be.

* * *

Things didn’t stay as normal as Ventus wanted them to, of course. 

It happened one day as he was wandering the halls with Kairi, as he had become want to do. It relaxed him to talk with her, as she was bright and full of chatter at all times; he even held her hand at times—absolutely non-romantically—to feel safer.

On this occasion, Kairi was swinging their hands between them as they walked, telling an enthusiastic story about the time Roxas and Riku kissed by accident, when Ventus paused them both, hearing a deep voice come from a room with the door slightly ajar.

They hadn’t encountered Xemnas again at all after their discussion about accommodations—they were assured he was very busy with important things. To hear him speaking in low tones in an unfamiliar room set Ventus’s teeth on edge. Kairi seemed slightly baffled, but he silenced her with a finger to his lips. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he decided to trust his gut feeling this time.

Ventus pressed himself flat against the wall, inching closer to the room; despite Kairi’s obvious confusion, she joined him on the wall, mirroring his movements quietly. The room was one that was unfamiliar to him, so he wasn’t sure if it was an office or a medical lab, but it seemed that Xemnas was speaking with Saïx and Zexion in there.

“How much longer will it take?” droned a voice that was unmistakably the Superior.

“It will be done very soon. Within days, ideally,” Zexion replied coolly.

Ventus’s eyes narrowed in thought, and he turned to Kairi to mouth, “The vaccine?” She only shrugged in response, cocking her head in thought.

He was glad to hear that the vaccine would be done soon, but he felt his heart freeze up as he realized that _no one had told them that_ , and why would they _not_? Considering the completion of it was largely in part due to Roxas and Ventus’s contributions, he thought they really should have been informed. Honestly, they all should have been informed because this was such excellent news, right?

Saïx was the next to reply. “Are you still conducting testing?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Do we have plans for what to do with _them_?” Xemnas asked.

Kairi clenched Ventus’s forearm. They both had a good idea as to who ‘them’ was referring to.

“My job is just to stall for time,” Zexion said next. “Don’t rely on me.”

Saïx let out a deep sigh. “I suppose that will be left to me.”

“And Xigbar.”

“As expected.”

Ventus knew at that moment that they needed to _go_. It sounded like the conversation was winding down, and it was going to be extremely unfortunate if Kairi and he were caught snooping. He gave Kairi a gentle shove to get her moving back in the direction they came from, pressed against the wall until they were far enough from the room to be out of eyeshot. Rapidly, they continued back as quietly as possible to find their friends, Kairi still gripping onto Ventus’s forearm.

Once they figured they were far enough away that they couldn’t be heard, they began to run through the hallway, paying no mind to the squeaking of their shoes and panting breaths. In an unfortunate twist, they practically ran into Axel, Ventus having to stop quickly to avoid slamming straight into his chest.

“Woah, woah, what are you guys up to?” Axel laughed, putting a hand of each of their shoulders.

“Just—getting some exercise,” Ventus warbled. It was kind of a shitty excuse, but he didn’t know what else to say.

Axel furrowed his brows, but he had an amused smile on his face, so at least it was evident that he wasn’t suspicious.

Kairi darted her eyes to Ventus in an obvious nonverbal question of whether they should explain to Axel what was going on. While Ventus _did_ trust Axel more than anyone else who worked there, that was the issue. No matter how friendly he was to them, he still worked there, and there was no telling if he was involved in the plot.

Kairi started, “We—” before stopping, biting her lip in anxiety. “We need to get back to the others.”

That was when Axel’s face dropped into a painfully neutral expression, which felt wrong on him—he was always expressive to a somewhat annoying point, full of jokes and things to say. “You’d better do that then,” was all he said before squeezing their shoulders and continuing on in the direction they had come from.

“Shit! That can’t be good,” Kairi hissed—that was how Ventus knew it was serious, since Kairi didn’t swear too often.

“We gotta go,” he whisper-shouted, grabbing her hand and dragging her along as he began running again. 

They burst into Sora’s room within a few minutes, as the door had been left open with the sounds of everyone’s chatter drifting out. Ventus slammed the door behind him and locked it for good measure, stopping beside Vanitas’s chair. Riku was in a chair next to him, and Sora and Roxas were sitting on the bed; they all straightened up when they saw how frantic Ventus and Kairi looked.

“Jesus!” Vanitas hissed. “What’s going on?!” He took Ventus’s free hand—the other still gripped tightly in Kairi’s—in his own, not hesitating even though this was something they’d never done before, especially not in public.

Ventus didn’t have it in him to tear his hand away, even as he was slightly embarrassed by this display. All he did was squeeze Vanitas’s hand while he shot him a grateful look.

“We might have a really big problem.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the longest chapter so far! i usually do ~2.5k, but this made it to 3k because i really wanted to fit this all in for the cliffhanger.
> 
> this chapter is super dialogue-heavy, but it's kinda necessary to tie things together. also, i feel like my org characterization (and honestly it as a whole) are very shaky here, so sorry about that!!

“They’re trying to kill us!” Ventus proclaimed loudly. In his haste and anxiety, he neglected to realize that no, no one except Kairi had any idea what he’s talking about.

“Uh… Care to elaborate, Ventus?” Vanitas asked, stroking the back of Ventus’s hand with his thumb.

“They’re trying to kill us.”

Vanitas sighed, somehow both exasperatedly and affectionately, and rolled his eyes.

“It’s okay, Ven,” Kairi smiled as she took mercy on Ventus’s incompetence, going on to explain the story in a comprehensible way with Ventus filling in the blanks where he was capable. The panic was starting to overwhelm him, and the only way he was kept from biting his nails down to the quick was by Vanitas and Kairi keeping a tight grip on his hands.

Once they finished, Vanitas pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. “Are… are you sure they mean us? It’s not like they’ve been bad to us.”

“I just—I just felt it! I could tell something wasn’t right,” Ventus said, shivering.

Riku spoke up. “So, there’s obviously something going on with the vaccine. Why would they hide it from us?”

“Exactly! That’s what’s so suspicious.”

Vanitas sighed once again—Ventus really wanted him to stop doing that. “I just don’t want to act rashly. We don’t know who or what they mean or what their plans are _at all_.”

Ventus shot him an angry look and wrenched his hand out of his grasp. “Something is wrong. I’m sure of it,” he insisted.

“Don’t be stupid. I’m trying not to put us in more danger,” Vanitas snapped. Visibly flinching when he saw the upset look on Ventus’s face at his abruptness, he continued softly, “I just want to know what’s going on for sure.” 

“Vani is right, Ven. We do need to investigate more, I think,” Kairi agreed, biting her lip. “There has to be a reason behind this.”

Roxas spoke up, finally. “If they haven’t even finished the vaccine yet, maybe we should stay for a few days and figure out what they’re doing with it. That’s probably the most important. After that, we can decide if we need to leave.”

“I’m sure things will turn out okay!” Sora said finally, giving a wavering smile as he gripped Roxas’s hand.

Vanitas shrugged and got up. “You might be a little too optimistic. We’re really going to need to figure this out soon if it’s as bad as Ventus and Kairi say, so let’s make a game plan.”

* * *

They spent the rest of their day working out what they were going to do. It was a very precarious situation, having to deal with sneaking around a facility they still weren’t all that familiar with. The vaccine was quite suspicious, but they decided their top priority was to escape if they really were in danger. Sora insisted they could take the vaccine themselves, but the rest of them knew that was too optimistic a thought. They weren’t exactly here to _actually_ save the world, so Riku had to talk him down and reason with him.

Ventus and Riku were given the job to find Xemnas and eavesdrop on him; whenever they searched, the others were to—hopefully discretely—block off halls to where the others were eavesdropping and stall anyone who tried to come past. The last thing they wanted was to be caught, so they had to be very careful.

They had absolutely no luck the first handful of days, Ventus and Roxas still undergoing medical tests that took up much of their time and energy—it almost seemed as if they were deliberately being kept away—and when they were free, none of them were able to find Xemnas. It seemed he wasn’t often in his office, sometimes just disappearing altogether; they had heard conversations between other staff about the Superior being ‘off on a mission’, or something obscure. They only got the lead they needed on the fourth day, trailing far behind Zexion as he rushed somewhere with a small vial in his hand.

“Do—do you think that’s the vaccine?” Ventus asked as his voice trembled.

Riku shushed him; he had been chosen to accompany him because of his level head, and they were hoping he could quell Ventus’s anxiety. Ventus was determined to go search since he was so involved with the vaccine because of his contribution, and Roxas didn’t care much to go. He’d had enough trouble for a lifetime, he said, and Ventus really couldn’t blame him.

They kept following, peeking around corners and only continuing on when Zexion turned the next corner. Riku was being extremely cautious, and Ventus was getting antsy, but he knew that the caution was necessary. Fortunately, Zexion did enter Xemnas’s office instead of going somewhere else; that meant that Xemnas was there for once, and the door was even cracked slightly open which made it easier to eavesdrop.

Riku pressed a finger to his lips and quietly pressed up onto the wall next to the opened edge of the door, Ventus slipping beside him.

They had arrived just in time to hear Zexion say, “—is finished,” and there was no doubt that it was about the vaccine. Ventus grabbed Riku’s forearm in a tight grip, and Riku patted his hand with his free one, not even looking over at him as he was too intent on listening.

“Would it be ready for mass reproduction?” Xemnas droned.

“Of course. With the help of Saïx, we’ve finalized it, and I have the sample here.” The sound of a vial clattering on a desk.

The sound of the tube scraping the desk as it was picked up. “We’re going to have to do something about the subjects and their friends.”

Zexion hummed in thought. “Yes. They don’t know that the vaccine is complete, so that’s fine for now. The problem is for getting them out of here, as we don’t know if we could just convince them to leave without it being finished, as far as they’re concerned.”

“I do not think letting them leave would be wise. If they know the vaccine is done, surely they will tell others out there. Even if they do leave and they believe it is not finished, they will likely still tell people that we were close. You know we cannot have that information getting out.”

“I’m aware. Shall I talk to Saïx about… taking care of them?”

“And Xigbar. Discuss with Saïx about the future plans for the vaccine,” the Superior finished. “You are dismissed.”

With that, Riku whisper-hissed, “Go, go, go!” as he took hold of Ventus’s arm and ran their way down the hallway as quietly as possible. Their timing was perfect as they were out of sight around a corner when they heard the door close; they kept going at full speed in the opposite direction Zexion had came from, hoping to avoid him.

Suddenly stopping, Ventus whispered harshly, “Wait, we gotta get behind him! We need to follow him to Saïx and Xigbar if we want to know about the plans!”

“Ven, I really think we just gotta worry about getting the hell out of here since we know they undeniably do _not_ have great plans for us,” Riku reasoned, but Ventus wasn’t willing to listen.

“I don’t care! I’m following,” Ventus huffed before turning on his heel and going down the previous hallway. Riku swore under his breath but chose to follow him anyways, knowing it would be safer with two of them.

They followed Zexion much the same way as before, trailing behind corners. He didn’t travel far before entering another office—presumably Saïx’s, given its close proximity to Xemnas’s. They had never seen much of Saïx, but it was evident that he was very necessary and dealt with many of the important tasks.

This time, the door shut behind him, but Ventus was bold enough to press his ear right up against it—he was that desperate to listen in and figure out what was going on. Riku rolled his eyes, though he still moved beside him and pressed his own ear to the door.

It seemed Zexion had already spoken as Xigbar started speaking. “Well, all Xemnas told me is that we just gotta do away with them, right?”

“Yes, and we can’t let them escape here at all costs.”

“As if,” Xigbar laughed. “Pick ‘em off one by one in the halls one day, I say. The others can be put up to the task along with me.”

Zexion sighed. “As long as you’re not being lazy and shifting off the work. Now, Saïx, do we know our exact plans for the vaccine yet?”

Saïx launched into an explanation. “We are keeping the vaccine under wraps at all costs. For now, the intent is to keep it for marketing and sell it under our brand later. If only we know how to make it, we will surely make a lot of profit. I’m sure the Superior has more detailed plans of his own, but as it is, we are keeping it under lock and key presumably to fund—”

Riku couldn’t help himself from muttering ‘bastards’, and the room went quiet.

“Did ya hear that?”

The sound of footsteps came from the room, and Ventus and Riku _bolted_ , not able to take much care now as their top priority was getting out away. They didn’t look back at all, so they really had no idea if they were seen, but Ventus had a bad feeling about their fate.

* * *

It was much the picture of Ventus and Kairi rushing around a few days before that, but now they had to pull their friends along with them as they ran. They gave them no warning, simply collecting the other four by grabbing them from their places in the halls and hauling them back to Ventus’s room before slamming the door.

“We have to start packing. Now!” Riku hissed loudly. “No time, go pack your bags!”

Sora started to protest, but Vanitas kicked a chair out of the way in his haste to get to his bag. “Sora, unless you’d like to die, I recommend you do what your boyfriend says.” Sora snapped his mouth shut at that and exited the room with the others, leaving Ventus and Vanitas to frantically pack.

There was no time for them to speak, only occasionally grabbing the other’s hand and squeezing it as they unceremoniously dumped their meager belongings in their bags. Within minutes, they burst out of their room, nearly at the same time as the others.

“Now’s the time to be cautious,” Riku warned. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Always unlucky, the group ran into Zexion as they were trying to sneak their way down the hallway, bags in tow.

“Where are you going?” Zexion questioned, his eyes a little panicked, but he managed to keep his voice steady.

“We have to go,” Vanitas answered smoothly. “We have places to be.”

Zexion sighed and shuffled through the papers he held in his arms. “The vaccine isn’t done yet.”

Ventus darted his eyes over—it probably wouldn’t be good to let them know that they knew what their plans with it were. That could put them in more danger. “We’ve… helped all we can.”

“We have some other things to go over,” Zexion said. “There’s another important test to do.”

Ventus knew he shouldn’t, but he took the bait. “What is it?”

Zexion gave them a smile that looked eerily empty on his face. “Ventus, would you like to find out if you have a younger brother?”

Ventus had opened his mouth to reply, but he snapped it shut almost instantly, eyes flying wide. 

“What do you…?” Sora whispered.

“M-me?” Roxas stuttered, a look that matched Ventus’s on his face.

“We don’t know yet. We haven’t done the DNA test for that specifically,” Zexion shrugged, trying to stay uncharacteristically nonchalant. “If you want to know, you have to stay.”

“Oh, god,” Ventus whispered—sure, Zexion could have been bluffing, but he really didn’t doubt that they had the technology here to figure that out. And he had never spoken about it before, not finding it pertinent since he viewed the people who raised him as his real parents. Yes, he was adopted, so this was a _real_ possibility, given the uncanny resemblance he and Roxas had if you paid attention.

“Roxas, what should we do?”

He had an equally concerned face, mouth hanging slightly open in shock and confusion. “I—we—I don’t know…”

Vanitas leaned over subtly to hiss in Ventus’s ear. “Be careful. This could be straight manipulation, since it’s so sudden.”

“Why didn’t you mention this earlier?!” Ventus demanded, digging his nails into his palms. “Do you really think we’re that closely related?”

“It’s a possibility, based off of some of the genetic results and similarities we have seen between you two lately.”

Sora whispered in their direction, hand tightly clasping Roxas’s. “Ven, Rox… It’s your choice.”

As Ventus made eye contact with him and saw how sad and _scared_ Sora looked, he knew this just wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair to risk all of their safety for something that might not even be true. As much as it pained him, he made his decision. He didn’t need proof to know that he cared about Roxas, cared about all his friends more than some DNA test.

“No. We can’t. We’re going to go now,” Ventus said firmly, his voice oddly steady and confident despite the storm of feelings inside of him.

Zexion replied, his voice somewhat clipped with a small stutter. “F-fine. I must be going now, then, too.” Abruptly, he continued past them, heels clicking rapidly on the ground. Ventus could’ve sworn he heard him mutter ‘Xigbar’ under his breath, and that was a sign they needed to _go_.

“Fuck!” Riku spat, grabbing Kairi’s hand. “Let’s go!” 

Ventus reached out to grab Vanitas’s hand, who was already moving to meet him right in the middle. Linked, they all set out at a run down the hallways, trying not to lose their way this time. 

There was one more roadblock, and this one was harder because he was a friend—Axel.

“Woah there!” he laughed as Sora nearly ran straight into him. He was holding a small tray of vials with a grin on his face, until he saw their bags and realized how frantic they looked. “Now, where are you going?”

Roxas let out a small curse. He had known Axel for longer, and it seemed like Axel had been good to him and kept him company during his time spent alone here. All of them really hated to betray him, but Roxas must have had it the hardest. “Um… We have to leave?”

“Why?” Axel sighed as he tapped his foot on the linoleum.

“Um…” Roxas murmured, scuffing his foot on the ground, “We know about the vac—”

Vanitas cut him off with a sharp elbow to the side, shooting him an angry glare that said ‘don’t let him know’. It was too late at that point, and they could tell Axel knew by the perfectly neutral look that swept down his face like a wave.

“Well, that’s unfortunate,” Axel smiled. “This here vaccine, right?” he continued, taking one of the vials out of the tray and twirling it between his fingers. “The one that we don’t want to get out? So badly that we’ll harm people?”

“Axel—” Roxas pleaded. “ _Please_ don’t do this, we’re your friends!”

Axel ignored him and continued to toy with the vial. “We really can’t let this go. But it sure would be a shame if _someone_ ,” he said emphatically, “were to _accidentally_ drop this sample of the vaccine. Someone could copy it, and that would just be the worst for our plans.”

With that, he let it fall through his fingers, clinking to the ground lightly. “Oops! How silly of me,” he laughed.

Ventus understood immediately and bent down to snatch up the vial in a flash, stuffing it in his pocket. Axel tutted, “Oh, how unfortunate. Guess there’s nothing to be done.”

“Thanks,” Ventus smiled, hesitating before going in for a tight hug. Everyone else joined him, and Axel gave a laugh, ruffling Roxas’s hair.

“See ya, kids.”

And they took off, Axel left behind, whistling his way down the hallway.

* * *

It felt like it took them decades to traverse the hallways, the stark white of every surface making things blend together. Luckily, despite what it felt, they actually weren’t too far from the entrance, and they managed to avoid anyone else due to the late hour.

The main doors of the complex were easy to get out of, but as they ran down the pathway to the main gate, they realized they had an issue—the gate was locked and needed someone to buzz them in and out.

“Do you think we can climb it?” Sora questioned, shaking the bars of the gate as he looked up the wall.

“There’s barbed wire, idiot,” Vanitas laughed bitterly. “We’re stuck.”

Ventus could tell Sora was about to cry with the shaky sigh he let out, and he honestly felt like he was on the verge of tears himself.

But their luck—and their friend—pulled through as they heard a large ‘click’, and the gate began to swing open. They slipped out as quickly as possible as the intercom on the wall crackled to life, Axel’s voice seeping through. “Good luck, guys. I’ll buy you a little time.”

“What do you mean?” Roxas asked, anxiety creeping into his voice as the gate closed behind them, locking them out of the complex and into an unforgiving world.

They realized very quickly what Axel meant as someone strode up the path, something between a crossbow and a gun propped on his shoulder. They stood frozen as the figure continued up the path, and upon arrival, he tutted and rattled the locked gate. “Axel, you bastard.”

“Oh, well. I guess I’ll give you a head start, kiddos,” Xigbar laughed, giving them a sharp and terrifying smile. “Better get running.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for this update taking so long! i've been busy with school and kh3, plus i've been editing the hell out of the prior chapters (the edits will be added later)! i'm not super happy with this chapter but what can ya do
> 
> i've finished kh3, but let's keep spoilers out of the comments for other people's sake! this is an au so i don't think anything kh3-relevant will pop up, but if anything does allude to it, it's not on purpose since this stuff was planned before kh3!
> 
> final note, i'll be renaming this story soon! i'm stuck between two choices, but you will see it change soon!

They stood there in shocked silence for a moment, watching Xigbar’s figure disappear back down the path back to the complex, whistling a haunting tune. He was so casual and _slow_ that Ventus knew that wouldn’t be good—he was in no rush because he was obviously confident that he could get them anyways.

“Well, that’s not great,” Riku said, deadpan, staring intently. He had his steel pipe as usual, but his grip on it was so tight that his knuckles shone white, a beacon of his normally hidden fear as he leaned on it like a crutch.

Roxas let out a loud swear, slamming his hand on the intercom repeatedly as if it were his friend himself. “Axel, let us in! He’s coming back!”

“No can do, Roxas,” came from Axel, the audio popping suspiciously.

“You motherfucker! You need to let us back in!”

Axel’s side of the intercom started crackling and losing output. “It’s fine—fight—he’s not—go—be okay!” it sputtered out before dying, the light fading.

“What the _fuck_!” Roxas screamed. “Xigbar’s dangerous!” He punched the concrete wall with each word as his knuckles started bleeding, the delicate skin shredding easily.

“Roxas, what the hell?” Riku asked, pulling him bodily away from the wall. “Don’t do that, we’ve gotta get going!”

He seemed to be having a fit, writhing in Riku’s arms, trying to escape the strong arm around his waist. “He can’t die! He can’t!” he whimpered, dissolving into tears. “I don’t want to go!”

Hearing the whimpering cries of his boyfriend, Sora rushed over, cupping Roxas’s face while Riku still had his arms wound around him. “Rox, love, it’s gonna be fine,” he hushed. “Axel is strong. You should know that better than anybody here.”

“I’m scared,” Roxas admitted, and he gripped one of his boyfriend’s hands like a lifeline. “This isn’t a good place. Most of them aren’t good people.”

Ventus wanted to ask about what he meant, but he knew it was time to get the others going. He worried at the inside of his lip, chewing until he tasted blood because he was so nervous; thankfully, Vanitas spoke up for him when he couldn’t. “That’s why we need to go. We have a head start, like he said, so we shouldn’t waste it.”

Roxas wiped his eyes, smearing a little bit of blood on his face from his bleeding hand. “Okay.”

“Shouldn’t we get him cleaned up?” Sora asked, trying to wipe the blood off of Roxas’s face with his sleeve.

“We can do that after we get out of the city,” Riku said. “We need to put distance between us and the complex as fast as we can.”

Sora sighed, holding Roxas’s uninjured hand. Riku put his arm around Roxas’s shoulders to lead him, and for once, he didn’t brush it off. Kairi came to Ventus and laced her fingers with his, squeezing nervously; he squeezed back and gave her a shaky smile, trying to communicate that they would be okay. Really, he didn’t know that, but he just wanted to see her smile—which she did.

They began to head off like this: Sora, Roxas, and Riku in a row, Ventus and Kairi clasping hands, and Vanitas walking close enough to Ventus to brush the backs of their hands together.

Ventus was too scared to hold tight.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
After traveling out of the city’s bounds, they stopped for a moment to rest. Riku busied himself with wrapping up Roxas’s hand, Sora by his side and chattering, while Vanitas set up a game plan. He had become the impromptu leader of their group a long time ago, and no one argued because he seemed to be the most educated about survival—for reasons they didn’t ask about and he didn’t elaborate on.

“So, we’re going to travel through the suburbs whenever we can,” he started, examining the map that Aerith gave them, now slightly worn at the edges. “It’s the best place to stay under cover, and we need plenty of places to hide if Xigbar or anyone else who comes catches sight of us.”

“You just want to loot houses, don’t you, Vani?” Kairi giggled.

Vanitas scoffed with mock offense. “I would _never_ do something like that!” he emphasized, putting a hand over his heart.

“Yeah, you say that when we find you mysteriously gone at night,” she grinned.

Vanitas grumbled, “Shut up, princess,” under his breath, but he couldn’t help but grin at her laughter. She bumped him with her hip, and he bumped her in return.

Ventus smiled sappily. Kairi had grown to become one of his best friends, and Vanitas was… something. Whatever it was, it made him happy to see them get along.

Vanitas fell back into business mode, one arm slung around Kairi’s shoulders. “Actually, I think it’ll be better to travel at night. It’ll be safer under cover of darkness, and we’ll sleep in shifts like normal. We should travel most of tonight, too, to get ahead. Basically, the next few days will be kind of miserable while we get adjusted.”

Roxas groaned from his spot on the ground, leaning on Sora with his feet on Riku’s lap—Riku looked fairly disgruntled by it, but he was letting it happen. “Are you serious? Haven’t things sucked enough?”

“Am I wrong?” Vanitas said, raising his eyebrows.

Roxas was silent for a beat before speaking. “Fuck you.” Sora wound his arms around his waist and laughed.

Ventus looked overhead. The sun was overhead, a little west of its peak, so he figured it was about 1 o’clock. “We should really get going, then.” The others agreed, and after heaving themselves off the ground and grabbing their stuff, they carried on. There were suburbs not far outside of the city’s outskirts, which was a blessing; they wanted to be more hidden the closer they were to the city. 

The suburbs were slightly terrifying to Ventus, though. It reminded him of the ghost of his neighborhood, leaving his home behind and seeing all those wide, gaping doors lining the streets that welcomed him into an empty skeleton. He didn’t talk about it either, but he was afraid of finding corpses behind those walls—people had waited in their homes to die, and some of them never left. It must have been long enough now that the bodies were disposed of (by which means, Ventus didn’t want to think about), but he was superstitious. He trusted his friends, though; he wouldn’t voice his dumb concerns for fear of being made fun of, but he knew they would protect him even if they laughed.

There really was nothing and no one there except for them. They walked down the streets, Sora quietly chatting with others while he kicked loose stones down the road. The noises echoed eerily and sent a chill down Ventus’s spine.

He hoped they could see someone, anyone, but he would also probably scream if someone just stepped out. There was nothing else alive, anyways—no squirrels or birds or anything else you’d see in a neighborhood, just dead, dry grass and barren trees that stretched pitifully towards the sky. He shivered and pulled Kairi’s hand closer.

The rest of that day was incredibly uneventful, and they settled down for the night—only 4 hours, Vanitas said, which made all of them groan and whine—near a dilapidated building between suburbs. There was a point in the night where Ventus shot up and sat still, holding his baseball bat as he heard what he thought was footsteps. Riku was up on watch and shook his head, reassuring that it was fine. Ventus trusted his judgement, but it was still hard to fall back asleep, clutching onto his weapon as it dug into his torso.

They continued the next day, waking up before the sun had even rose, finally settling down a few hours before sunset.

The others collapsed near instantly, exhausted from the notable lack of breaks that day that were intended to exhaust them. Ventus stayed up, curled up with his arms encircling his knees, Vanitas next to him and doing the same.

As the sun began to sink below the horizon, Vanitas got up and stretched. “I’m gonna go for a walk. Not far.”

“Can… I come?” Ventus half-whispered, and he stood up when Vanitas nodded his assent. 

Like it was the most natural thing in the world, his black-haired companion offered his hand, and Ventus tentatively took it, lacing their fingers together. Vanitas dragged him forward, and they walked down the road, shoes gently scuffing on the asphalt. 

Approaching a small park, Ventus questioned, “Did you know this was here?” and Vanitas just shrugged. He took a seat on one of the rusty swings, and Ventus joined him, reaching for his hand again.

“Can I ask you something?” 

“…Yeah.”

“Why,” Ventus hesitated, choosing his words. “What… happened to you? Something was bad when you were younger, right?”

Vanitas sighed and looked at the quickly darkening sky. “Why do you want to know?”

“Because I want to get to know you?” Ventus said, with a question in his voice. “You can’t deny that something is happening. And… I want you to open that door for me. Because I care about you.”

Ventus could almost _feel_ Vanitas trying to close up on him, but he cleared his throat several times and began to speak. “I never had a choice.”

“A choice in what?”

“A choice to be… anything but this. I was raised to be a monster.”

Ventus kept quiet, and Vanitas continued. “I’ve been hurtling towards the end of my life since I popped out of my sorry excuse for a mother.” He waved his free hand. “She left me alone to deal with my father, and all I could do was fight back.”

“What was he like?” Ventus questioned, tightening his grip on Vanitas’s hand.

“A total and complete bastard,” he laughed bitterly. “Piece of shit who only saw bad in the world and reflected it onto me.

“That’s why… I hurt people. That’s how you live. If I hurt them first, they can’t hurt me, and now I’m a monster.”

“You’re _not_ a monster,” Ventus insisted sharply. “It’s not your fault.”

“What do you know?” Vanitas hissed, his hackles rising as he tried to pull his hand back. “ _You_ knew me in high school. You _saw_ who I was and what I did!”

Ventus hissed back and gripped his hand harder, pulling him closer so harshly that the swing pulled towards him. “So what, Vanitas? There are a million goddamn bullies in high school. You did what you could with what you had.

“At the end of the day, you were a _child,_ and he was an adult.”

Vanitas sighed through his nose and stared at the ground, kicking the mulch beneath his feet as he was silent for a minute before speaking again. “I hurt you.”

“A lot of people have,” Ventus laughed. “That’s life. I forgave you… a long time ago. I wouldn’t do this,” he lifted up their entwined hands, “if I didn’t.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry for not giving you the chance you needed, Van.”

“Thanks… Ven.”

Ventus gave him a smile so bright that the sunset would have envied it. “Let’s get back to the others.”

They continued back hand in hand, both feeling lighter.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
The next day—if it counted as a day, which Ventus doubted due the new nocturnal schedule—they woke up some time after midnight. He came to the realization that he and Vanitas were nearly pressed to each other, a little space between them where their hands lay. Embarrassment flushed on his cheeks, but he couldn’t help smiling when the first thing he woke up to was Vanitas’s face, calm and smooth for once.

Vanitas was already awake and looking at him with an unreadable face. When blue eyes met gold, he disentangled himself from Ventus to wake the others up. They were making good time, but Vanitas and Riku were still responsible for ushering the others, not satisfied with the progress.

This journey was extremely opposite of what it had been when they originally came this way; there were no real shenanigans, no stopping to relax for long periods of time, no excited talking and laughter. They had a new person in tow, too, so it only became more complicated.

Roxas was a fine travel companion, fortunately; he did tend to mope, but he talked to Ventus and Vanitas sometimes; they had determined that Roxas was a couple years younger than Ventus, and although they weren’t sure if they were related, Ventus still took on the older brother role. He would keep his arm around his shoulder at times, and he urged him to talk and keep moving.

He spent plenty of time with Sora, as would be expected, but he became attached to Ventus at the hip. The older knew something was wrong, but he didn’t ask, simply giving a shoulder to lean on. He didn’t want to probe about his time at Oblivion City, not yet, so he just focused on getting them all to their destination faster.

It was nice to grow close and learn that maybe he had a relation alive, instead of feeling like he was the only one of his bloodline wandering around mindlessly. Not that he cared a lot about genetics and blood because his parents would always be his parents, but it was still comforting.

It was days of uneventfulness, days of dead plants and empty houses and the yawning expanse of the sky. Ventus almost wished something would happen, something to break the monotony, but he knew the most likely something would be bad. He settled for keeping close to the others and reminiscing on his past.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
It took more time than their journey to the city due to taking the longer way through the suburbs, but they were finally coming close to Radiant Garden—so close it was in sight, an expanse in the distance that began to rise in front of them. They were unshielded now, having split from the suburbs for a shorter way to the city.

They were doing their best to rush, having to help Riku along the way as he limped from a nasty trip earlier. He hid the fact that he was in pain well, but Ventus still saw his clenched teeth and the bead of sweat that slid down his brow. It wouldn’t be long, he told himself; they had made it so far and been okay, so surely things would be—

“Guys, what’s that?” Kairi wavered, pointing back the way they came. “Is that moving?”

“Keep going,” Vanitas hissed, adjusting his grip under Riku’s arm to help him along. 

She looked horrified and kept pointing, but Roxas grabbed her hand to lead her. “Kai, we’re almost there. We’ll be safe once we get to the city.”

Relenting, she nodded and continued along. Sora shifted Riku, on the other side from Vanitas, to help him walk. “It’ll be okay, babe. We’ll get you help soon.”

They tried to go faster, Vanitas and Sora straining under the weight of Riku, who tried his best to drag himself. The pace was obviously hurting him, but he couldn’t relent at this point. Ventus suffered under the weight of several of their bags, wishing he really had gone to the gym more when things were normal.

They tried to keep an eye backwards, watching the thing in the distance as it came closer, and closer, and closer. When it became visible as a human figure, there was a shout. 

“Kiddos! You should wait for me!” it taunted, and the casual tone gave it away.

“Shit! Motherfuck!” Riku yelled. “Get going! It’s him!” Squirming out of Vanitas and Sora’s hold, he grabbed a bag from Ventus and started to leg it, uncontrolled gasps coming out of his mouth with Vanitas running close behind.

“Oh, god, where did he come from?” Ventus halfway sobbed, grabbing Roxas by the arm to spur him and Kairi to run. 

“We’ve avoided him for so long, I guarantee this is on purpose,” Roxas spat out bitterly. “There’s shelter soon! Go!”

“Sora, get going!” someone yelled. Ventus and Roxas turned around and saw Sora just standing where he had let go of Riku, jaw slack as Xigbar drew ever closer, weapon primed. 

“ _Sora_!” came again with a flash of movement as someone ran, and then—

A gunshot.  
  
  
Several screams.  
  
  
  
A painful, heartbroken _shriek._  
  
  
  
  
And then… silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :-)


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhhhey gamers. sorry for leaving that cliffhanger for like 5 weeks! life has been something between school/midterms, chronic illness stuff, and writer's block. but i did it! i hope it's not disappointing for a long wait
> 
> the next chapter may take some time once again, as i'm trying to iron out the details for the rest of this fic. i promise i'm not giving up on it, though!!
> 
> have a lot of angst and some gay

It was just a moment, but it felt like Ventus had been standing there for his whole life. His entire existence could be summed up right there, staring with his pupils wide and brain not comprehending anything.

Two bodies crumpled onto each other on the ground; he couldn’t tell who was who and _oh, god, there was so much blood and he couldn’t tell whose it was and they were turning into a blur of black and brown and black and brown and blackandbrownandblackand_ —

And then there was more movement, running for the pile and Ventus was crying and he just wanted his mother and it was _too much, too fast._

“ **Sora!** ” Riku yelled, and Ventus ran to join them, tripping over his feet because he couldn’t see with tears filling his eyes. Roxas and Riku were working to untangle the two, still not able to tell who was injured or if they both were. “Sora, are you okay?” Riku gasped.

Sora let out a hiss as he was moved and touched his hand to the blood on his skin. “I-I think I’m okay—I m-mean, I think there’s something wrong with my arm… But I don’t think the blood is mine…”

While Riku tended to Sora, Roxas and Kairi joined Ventus in flipping Vanitas on his back—if Sora wasn’t bleeding, then that meant…

“V-Vanitas?!” Ventus whimpered, pressing his hands across his body to find where the wound was. “Are you—?”

He let out a cough and a groan, clenching his eyes closed. Still, even through the probably unimaginable pain, he was still able to let out a jab; at least, that was how Ventus knew he wasn’t totally over the line. “Don’t be a crybaby, Ven.”

He paid no mind to the insult, having found the wound on Vanitas’s side, a hole ripped into him that made Ventus want to turn around and vomit. He was fighting to get his jacket off, stuck in the sleeves as he was shaking too hard. It never occurred to him to think of anything else—this was his world right here.

He didn’t see Riku brandishing his pipe, Kairi crouching low in her best-acting position, Roxas covering Sora with his own body. He didn’t see the boot that came for his head, the harsh step that ground into his ribs with obscene snapping noises. His head was spinning as he fell to his side, coughing up something that looked suspiciously like blood (though maybe it was from Vanitas).

“It’s really not smart to turn your back on enemies,” Xigbar laughed cruelly. “You’re all just sitting ducks, huh?”

Ventus could only stare up, vision blurring and doubling with the effort of keeping his eyes open. Xigbar didn’t have his focus on him anymore, weapon primed at the others point-blank. All he could comprehend at that very moment was that _oh god, Vanitas was going to die_ and _oh god, the others are going to die._ He didn’t stop to stress because _oh god, he was going to die._

He tried to get himself up, shaking arms underneath his body; maybe he could grab Xigbar’s leg, stab his foot, _something_ before his friends ended up like Vanitas, or maybe worse.

Within the past few seconds, he had accepted his own inevitable death, so he might as well go out protecting his friends.

He finally gets his knees underneath him, straining to reach over and grab for Xigbar. Hands shaking, tears running down his cheeks, blood on his hands—  
  
  
  
A gunshot that echoed in Ventus’s ears.

He jerked his head around, looking desperately for which one of them had gotten taken down. He was about to scream again when he saw a black lump on the ground, greying ponytail soaking up blood.

“Got ‘em, babe,” Xion laughed with an old rifle on her shoulder, Naminé standing behind her, hair in a high ponytail and brandishing a particularly gnarly hunting knife. They rushed forward, and Ventus resumed taking off his jacket, seeing double. His own wounds weren’t his priority.

“Vanitas, you can’t—” he choked out, cut off by a sob. “You c-can’t leave me, not now!” He finally got his jacket off and pressed it to Vanitas’s side, crying harder when he saw him wince in pain at the pressure.

“Stop fussing, Ven. You can’t get rid of me so easily…” he rasped out, and Ventus just shook his head; he had always been stubborn, and he certainly wasn’t going to stop now.

Naminé had made her way over to them and crouched down next to Ventus, helping to press down on the wound. “Xion, they need to get to the city, quick!”

Xion made a quick count of their heads to appraise them. “How is everyone doing for walking?”

“Roxas and Kairi are good, Sora might have a broken arm, my ankle is busted, Ven probably got himself a concussion and broken ribs, and Vanitas is flirting with the Grim Reaper,” Riku said dryly. “I’ll manage. Roxas, you help me with Vanitas. Kairi, help support Ven, and Sora, just stick close by in case you have a concussion, too.” Thankfully, he had taken the role as de facto leader of the group and was able to figure out the logistics.

“No, dumbass,” Xion sighed, smacking Riku’s shoulder. He looked fairly shocked that someone like her would act like that to him. “You’re gonna need more help with Vanitas than that.”

Riku made some indignant noises over this, but he relented and began debating with Xion over who should help who. After some minutes, he announced, “Guys, we’re gonna have to leave someone behind. We can’t all carry these bags, so they’re gonna have to be left here to pick up after Vanitas is dropped off at the hospital. They might get stolen if we leave them alone, so…”

“You guys go! I’ll stay!” Ventus insisted. He really, really did not want to leave Vanitas right now, but he knew that he had to get to the city before something worse happened. They needed all the able bodies they could get in order to get to Radiant Garden quickly and safely.

The others started to protest on account of his concussion, but Roxas stepped in and crouched down next to Ventus. “It’s fine, guys. I’ll stay with him.” He gave Ventus a brotherly look that clearly read _’do something stupid and I’ll beat your ass’._

Ventus nodded along with Roxas. “We’ll stay and watch the stuff. Someone come help once you…” his voice choked in his throat, “get him taken care of.”

The others nodded and prepared to move Vanitas. It was a delicate and complicated task, trying to figure out who should go where and carry what.

After some time, it was decided that Riku would carry him—it wasn’t the ideal setup because of his ankle, but he was the strongest by far, so taking the brunt of the load was logical. From there, Xion and Kairi would be supporting him from both sides, like awkward crutches. Sora would be on the lookout for threats, having been gifted Riku’s pipe, and Naminé was running ahead to the city to prepare them for Vanitas. 

At first, Ventus didn’t want to detach from Vanitas, still at his side and pressing his jacket onto the wound, even as he looked like he was going to fall over and pass out at any second. He honestly was, really, with as much energy as he had expended in this situation. 

“Ven, let go,” Roxas groaned. 

“B-but—what if he bleeds out on the way? What if he—”

Kairi crouched down beside him and rubbed his back. “Ven, he needs to go to the hospital. We can’t carry him if you don’t let go,” she soothed quietly. “We’ll come to get you soon, and then you can see him again. I promise.”

Ventus shuddered out a teary sigh and took his hands off Vanitas. “Keep the jacket in case you need to stop and apply pressure on the way.” He carefully moved Vanitas’s hair out of his face—it was sticking to his forehead, slick from sweat. “And don’t you die, asshole, or I’ll never forgive you,” he scolded. 

“Yes, sir,” Vanitas said weakly, a small smile still on his face, just for Ventus. 

With that, Vanitas was arranged in Riku’s arms as carefully as possible; however, no matter how careful they were, he gasped out in pain several times, and each one broke Ventus’s heart. As each of them took their position, all the bags were dumped into a pile, and Roxas and Ventus said goodbye to the others while they hurried off as quickly as possible.

When they were left alone, Ventus stuttered, “Uh… c-can we move away f-from…” motioning to Xigbar, who was collapsed off to the side. In their haste, no one had enough time to care about him. 

“Eugh, I forgot about him… Yeah,” Roxas agreed. “Hope we can dump him in a fire.” He stood up and hefted Ventus up, wrapping an arm around his waist. 

“I can walk!” Ventus sniped stubbornly. Roxas just rolled his eyes and dragged him along anyways, setting him down some ways away. 

He sat with his face buried in his knees for a bit, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to keep more tears from slipping out. He was disturbed, though, when Roxas smacked his shoulder. 

“Stop crying, and _don’t_ fall asleep!”

“I wasn’t, asshole! A-and I just...

“I—I love him!” he blurted out. He would’ve slapped his hands over his mouth after saying that, if not for the blood. This was something that he had never told anyone, not even _himself_ , really. It was a sentiment that grew in the deepest crevices of his heart, growing and seeping out of the cracks until it threatened to crack his chest cavity open.

This was a huge revelation for Ventus, but Roxas stared at him like he’d just told him what he’d had for lunch. “Okay, and…?”

“What—what does that mean?!”

Roxas sighed like Ventus was the biggest goddamn idiot he had ever met. “The sky is blue… the grass is green… Ventus and Vanitas are in love with each other. Everyone knows this.”

Ventus just gaped at him for a moment, jaw slack. “ _Everyone?_ ” he squeaked. 

“Well… yeah. Remember how I thought you were dating when we first met? It’s obvious, dumbass.”

“I hate you so much. I hate you,” Ventus grumbled, face buried in his knees again. This was so goddamn embarrassing… Everyone knew, and no one even told him. “Wait, wait, wait,” he said suddenly, withdrawing his face. “Vanitas isn’t in love with me.”

Roxas looked at him like he was a complete idiot once again. “How are you so oblivious?”

He didn’t even respond to that, just flopping down on his back and looking at the endless sky. This is what Vanitas had been watching, huh? An unforgiving expanse opening up to swallow him as he bled out and—

“Stop. Moping,” Roxas growled, smacking Ventus’s leg lightly. “It’ll be fine. Out of all places to get shot, this was a pretty good one.”

Ventus knew he was right; they weren’t in the middle of nowhere, and they were at a big city that would have far better treatments than the settlements that littered the landscape every so often. He was trying his hardest to stay positive, but that was difficult when someone he loved was bleeding out, out of his sight.

“Talk to me. Distract me,” he murmured, still staring at the sky.

Roxas sighed and started running his hands through Ventus’s messy, sticky hair. “Well, I told you how I grew up in Twilight Town. One time, we…”

Ventus was able to calm down as he listened to the drone of his found brother’s voice, telling him about his past.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
After what felt like a year, Xion and Kairi were back, bolting across the dried grass to reach them. 

“They’re—they’re working on him,” Kairi panted, bent over with her hands on her knees. “It’s…” she hesitated before shaking her head. “Let’s get Ven to the hospital to check out that concussion.”

“Maybe Xigbar helped knock his brain into place. He just realized he loves Vanitas,” Roxas explained. 

He was just about to snap at Roxas to _not tell anyone, dick,_ but Kairi just said with a grin and a nod, “Oh, good! About time.”

“You’re all assholes,” Ventus grumbled under his breath, and the others laughed. 

God, this was _so_ mortifying for him. Was he being that transparent? Did Vanitas know, and if so, what did he think? Ventus didn’t know if he’d ever be able to look him in the eye again. 

He sighed as he let Roxas drag him up, putting his arm around his shoulders as the other put an arm around his waist; he hissed a couple times to ‘watch the ribs, dick!’. Kairi giggled as she and Xion worked on picking up the bags, giving a couple to Roxas and Ventus. The girls were definitely overloaded, but they weren’t in as much of a rush as before, so they could take their time. 

“What about Sora? Did he get looked at?” Roxas asked.

“They don’t have access to X-rays, but it’s definitely broken,” Kairi said. “He’s fretting more over Riku, though, even when he only has a sprained ankle.”

They couldn’t help but laugh at that—Sora was too caring and empathetic for his own good sometimes, not paying attention to his own issues. It was always refreshing, at least; it helped to have someone rooting for everyone on the team when they started to get down. That happened more often than not lately, what with all the fear over the issues with the Oblivion Complex. 

As that thought went through Ventus’s head, he stopped. “Do you think anyone else from the Complex will come for us?”

“There’s no way to know for sure,” Roxas shrugged. 

“Well…” Xion began, chewing at her cheek. “Riku told me you have the vaccine, and they didn’t want that to get out. If they’re really desperate, then… it’s something to stay wary of. They’re nasty.”

“Xion, what do you even know about them? You mentioned that when we first met you, too,” Kairi asked. 

Xion sighed and fidgeted with the strap of one of the bags she was carrying. “Nami and I spent some time there, like you guys. See, I’m immune to the virus, and I was there for research, too.”

“You’re immune?” Kairi gasped. “I didn’t know people like that existed…”

She nodded in answer. “Yeah. It wasn’t as useful as having a dormant virus, but I wanted to help with the efforts for the vaccine. 

“Nami and I decided to leave eventually because something about the people started to feel off. When we told them, they were _very_ insistent about us staying, enough that it scared us. We heard some vague talk and had to run for it, only sneaking out with the help of one of them.”

“Axel?”

She nodded again. “Yeah, him. He was the only one I felt like I could trust—I think he’s just a good guy who got involved with the wrong people. 

“I’m sorry, I really should have told you these things before you went…” she smiled, a little bitterly. 

“No,” Ventus shook his head vigorously. “Even if I had known… I probably would have still gone as long as there was a chance I could help. I wish this all didn’t happen, but the vaccine… We’re just doing our part.”

Roxas sighed but nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Now, let’s get going.”

They continued their way to the city as quickly as they could, stopping every so often to adjust bags or give Ventus a break. He had been doing somewhat fine—at least he was conscious—but having to expend more energy was making his head throb as sweat dripped down his temples. 

When they made it, Aerith was waiting at the tent, motioning them in and jogging alongside them to direct them towards their hospital—much more makeshift and far dirtier than it would have been in its heyday, but if it worked, no one could care. 

“Wh-where’s Vanitas?” Ventus panted, even though they weren’t running anymore. His voice felt thick in his mouth, and he couldn’t quite tell if he was slurring

“He’s in—” was all he heard before his vision unfocused completely, and everything suddenly went black. His last thought was _Vanitas._  
  
  


* * *

  
  
When he awoke, he was in a hospital bed with a needle in his arm, and his first thought was _Vanitas._ He started to stumble out of bed, using the IV pole for balance. When he twisted his body, he hissed in pain as his ribs adamantly tried to stop him moving. Of course, he was stubborn, and he tried to ignore the nagging pain.

He didn’t even notice the other person in the room, though, and Roxas swatted him. “Get back in the bed, _Ventus,”_ he hissed. His full name being used indicated that Roxas was entirely exasperated.

“What happened? What’s g-going on?”

“You passed out from overexertion, dehydration, and the concussion. That’s why you have the saline,” he explained, motioning to the IV. “They didn’t think the ribs were bad enough to waste pain medication on, so… tough shit, I guess.”

Ventus swore under his breath. “No, no—what’s going on with Vanitas?!” Who gave a shit about his broken ribs and concussion when their friend had a hole in his side?

Uncharacteristically, Roxas spoke in a softer voice, trying to soothe Ventus. “Last I heard, he was in surgery. They’re trying to see if the bullet—or whatever the hell came from Xigbar’s weapon—is still there, and if they need to get it out.”

Ventus felt so, so sick at the thought of people digging around inside of Vanitas, looking for scraps of what tried to kill him. He started fretting again; did he get anesthesia? Was he awake for the procedure? Did he get efficient pain medication? Was he bleeding internally? Was he going to d—

Roxas sighed and crawled on top of the hospital bed with him, gathering the other in his arms, just to hold him and ground him. Somehow, he knew exactly what Ventus needed, and he was infinitely grateful for it.

Silently, he wrapped his arms around the other boy and pressed his forehead to his shoulder. The tears came again, and he quietly sobbed into the embrace.


End file.
